Two Hilo men charged with ag theft

Police arrested and charged two Hilo men as a result of an agricultural theft investigation in Papaikou.

According to a statement, the charges stem from an incident at 9 a.m. Sunday on a Papaikou farm in which a witness reported seeing a man carrying multiple bags of fruit and loading them into a vehicle and leaving.

Responding officers determined that about $260 of mangosteen fruit had been stolen from a neighboring farm.

Officers arrested 32-year-old Jan Loren Aguinaldo and Levin Padilla-Pelanca at a Papaikou residence.

Aguinaldo was charged with second-degree theft. Padilla-Pelanca was charged with second-degree theft and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

Aguinaldo‘s bail was set at $5,000. Padilla-Pelanca’s total bail was set at $4,000.

Both were scheduled to make their initial appearances Tuesday in Hilo District Court.