A 29-year-old woman charged with attempted murder for allegedly ramming a moped carrying two people this weekend was granted supervised release during her first court appearance Monday.
Keola Kama appeared before Kona District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga on charges of first-degree attempted murder, two counts attempted second-degree murder and one count each first-degree criminal property damage, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury or death, driving without a license and failure to have no-fault motor vehicle insurance in connection with the Saturday morning crash that critically injured a man and woman.
During the hearing, Deputy Public Defender James Greenberg motioned for supervised release for his client, whose bail was set by police at $215,500 when she was charged Sunday. Despite objection from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Annaliese Wolf, Masunaga granted Kama supervised release.
A preliminary hearing was then set for July 14. During the hearing, prosecutors must show they have probable cause to support the charges filed against Kama.
The charges stem from an incident shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday on Kuakini Highway, fronting the entrance to Old Kona Airport Park, according to the Hawaii Police Department. Police on the scene said a woman driving a sedan rammed a moped carrying two riders, a male and female.
The woman, later identified by police as Kama, exited her vehicle and chased the moped’s passenger before fleeing the scene. Officers located the woman a short time later and took her into custody.
The two moped passengers, a 30-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, were taken to Kona Community Hospital following the crash.
They remained in critical condition Monday after being flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu for treatment.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact the department’s nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311 or Detective David Matsushima at (808) 326-4646, ext 224, or email to david.mastsushima@hawaiicounty.gov.