In the span of five days in April, a Puna patrol officer — on the force for less than two years — played a significant role in the apprehension of three dangerous fugitives who were responsible for a plethora of dangerous crimes, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
For his exceptional police work, Officer Christian Madera was honored as Officer of the Month for April by the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii during a ceremony July 14 in Hilo.
On April 23, at the start of his shift, Madera received information from community members that a possible murder and serious assault had occurred the previous night. Madera was able to obtain the details of the gruesome events and gather key intelligence regarding the possible location of the victim, as well as the suspect’s identity.
With the information Madera received, assisting officers were able to locate the body of the victim in a remote area of Puna and secure the scene, allowing for the preservation of evidence relative to the investigation.
A small task force was assembled as part of this murder investigation, and Madera’s information regarding the suspect’s location was instrumental to the task force locating and safely apprehending the suspect.
Madera continued to work with detectives and stayed in contact with witnesses. Through his efforts, multiple witnesses came forward and a second victim, who was injured during this incident, provided key information that strengthened the investigation.
The 35-year-old male suspect was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault with his bail set at $1.01 million.
Five days later on April 28, while on his way to work, Madera received information that wanted fugitives were in an industrial park in the Keaau area. Madera relayed this information to the Criminal Investigation Division and responded to the area. While waiting for additional units to arrive, he began surveying the area and observed a stolen vehicle that the suspect was reportedly driving. Madera maintained visual observation and continued to relay all information to responding units.
Upon the arrival of CID units, the vehicle fled the area and was subsequently located in a nearby nursery. During the course of this investigation a total of four suspects were apprehended and two stolen vehicles were recovered. Search warrants were executed on both vehicles, as well as a backpack worn by one of the suspects. The search warrant resulted in the recovery of various drug paraphernalia, methamphetamine, a ghost gun and ammunition.
Two of the parties responsible for the stolen vehicles, as well as the narcotics and firearms, were charged with multiple crimes resulting in a total bail of $305,000.
