A 36-year-old man accused of barricading himself in a storage unit on Kalanikoa Street in Hilo and holding police at bay for almost six hours Tuesday evening appeared in court today on charges not directly related to the standoff.
Jason Leroy Kime is charged with second-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault of a person age 60 or older, first-, third- and fourth-degree theft, and unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle.
According to court documents filed by police, Kime — who police said recently arrived on the Big Island from Oahu — early in the morning of April 20, entered an unlocked front door of a Kamalii Street home off East Kawailani Street in Hilo and used a bathroom in the house.
When confronted by the home’s resident, a 71-year-old woman, Kime allegedly pepper-sprayed the elderly woman and stole her iPhone worth an estimated $500 before leaving.
The woman identified Kime — who has a long rap sheet, including 15 prior felony convictions — from a photographic lineup.
Early following day, Kime allegedly entered another unlocked home and was confronted by its resident, a 56-year-old man. Kime, who police say was identified by the resident, is alleged to have stolen the man’s car from the home’s driveway.
Kime was spotted driving the car later that day on video surveillance at a Minit Stop gas station in Hawi.
Later that day, he allegedly was sleeping in the vehicle on a dirt driveway in North Kohala and fled on foot into bushes when he saw police nearby.
Eleven days later, Kime and a woman acquaintance, Luwika Hauanio, were arrested after the police SWAT unit and crisis negotiators were alerted to Kime’s presence at the self-storage facility.
Police said Wednesday that Hauanio used a stolen vehicle to intentionally ram a taxpayer-subsidized police vehicle.
Hauanio didn’t appear in court today, according to records, and Kime’s appearance and charges weren’t directly related to Tuesday night’s standoff.
Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach maintained Kime’s bail at $62,000 and ordered him to return today for a preliminary hearing.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
