A Kailua-Kona couple that led police on a manhunt from Captain Cook to Volcano on Thursday after allegedly shooting at three officers and carjacking a sport-utility vehicle surrendered without a fight after the SWAT unit surrounded a Volcano home, according to Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz.
“The SRT guys went up to the vehicle, which was empty, and checked the residence that it was parked in front of, and (the suspects) came out and surrendered,” Moszkowicz said late Thursday afternoon.
Dylan Alcain, 27, and Leilani Parent, 35 , were arrested shortly after 11 a.m. They were booked on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery, the chief told the Tribune-Herald. Additional offenses are anticipated, and the investigation continues.
The two suspects are being held at the Kealakehe Police Station Cellblock.
“We’re holding the scene of the house, pending a search warrant,” Moszkowicz said. “And we expect that once we execute the search warrant, we’ll get the firearm. We can see it in the house, so we’ve just got to go in and grab it.”
There were no other people in the home, Moszkowicz said.
Alcain and Parent are the suspects in a crime spree that police said started Tuesday with a pair of burglaries. Police said Alcain was identified as a possible suspect, and officers attempted to stop and arrest him, but he eluded capture, driving away in a dark-colored BMW with a defective headlight.
Then at about 1:50 a.m. Thursday, officers responded to a break-in at a business establishment in the 73-4700 block of Kanalani Street in Kailua-Kona.
The glass front door to the establishment was broken, and an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen. Video footage showed a gray BMW sedan with a female driver police later identified as Parent, and Alcain was spotted getting into the passenger seat, police said.
At about 4:20 a.m., a Kona patrol officer responding to a report of another break-in at a business in the 81-6600 block of Mamalahoa Highway in Captain Cook saw a dark BMW sedan with a defective headlight speeding away from the scene, police said.
According to police, an occupant in the BMW fired shots at the officer, striking his front windshield in two places — one on the lower passenger side, the other directly in front of the officer’s head. “Miraculously,” the officer was not injured.
“I don’t use the word ‘miraculously’ lightly,” Moszkowicz said. To say that they shot at the officer’s car is one thing. But this officer was, like, within two millimeters of being assassinated.”
A few minutes later, officers responding to the Rabbit Hill Road area in Captain Cook located the BMW, which fled onto Highway 11 towards Kailua-Kona, police said.
As it passed Napoopoo Road, an occupant of the BMW fired at another taxpayer-subsidized police vehicle, striking it just outside the driver-side door. As officers pursued the BMW, an occupant from inside the BMW fired an estimated six additional rounds at pursuing officers before the pursuit entered a more populated area, police said.
After weighing the risk to themselves and the community, as well as Alcain and Parent, police said officers made the decision to terminate the pursuit.
No officers were injured, and none of the officers discharged their firearms.
At 5:10 a.m. Thursday, officers received a report of an armed carjacking at a home in the 87-3000 block Huna Kai Road. A male victim reported that a man with a rifle and a female accomplice threatened him and demanded the keys to his red Ford Explorer SUV.
“He was threatened with a rifle, and he probably gave up his vehicle, as a very smart person would. And they drove off with it,” Moszkowicz said.
The BMW sedan was found abandoned nearby, according to police, and the manhunt that culminated in the arrests of Alcain and Parent became islandwide until the SUV was spotted in Volcano.
“Without getting too crazy with my words, I would say that this was an assassination attempt,” Moszkowicz said. “I don’t know how much more lucky this officer could’ve got. I’d say, ‘Go home and kiss your wife and kids, because there’s a plan for you, buddy.’ There’s a guardian angel, seriously.
“How does that bullet not penetrate the windshield? And if it does, the officer’s dead.”
Police ask anyone who witnessed any of these incidents to call the police nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311.
Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.