A Puna man accused of stealing a Telehandler forklift worth more than $100,000 was freed Monday over the objection of prosecutors.
Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk granted Captain M.S. Blackwell of Pahoa court-supervised release without the posting of cash bail at the request of Deputy Public Defender Megan Fellows. Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Son had asked the judge to maintain the $25,000 bail Blackwell was being held in custody on prior to his court appearance.
Blackwell, who is charged with first-degree theft — a Class B felony that carries a potential prison term of 10 years upon conviction — was ordered to return March 14 for a preliminary hearing.
The complaint states the forklift was stolen from Sunbelt Rentals in Hilo.
According to County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen, Puna patrol officers used the forklift’s GPS tracking system to locate the machine at a Leilani Estates subdivision home on Friday.
At the time of the alleged offense, Blackwell was on four years of probation after being convicted in 2019 of first-degree burglary, unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle, and illegally carrying a handgun.
In return for Blackwell’s no contest plea to those charges, prosecutors dismissed a charge of carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony, a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment, and failure to register the firearm used in the commission of the crime.
As a repeat offender, Blackwell could be sentenced to a mandatory minimum period of imprisonment without the possibility of parole, according to the complaint filed by prosecutors.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.