A 45-year-old Ocean View man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for the non-fatal shooting of his girlfriend and offenses stemming from a subsequent manhunt in March 2023.
Kona Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese passed sentence on Ronald P.K. Kahihikolo, who pleaded no contest on Feb. 27 to attempted first-degree assault, carrying a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, first-degree unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle and first-degree resisting arrest.
In return for his plea, other charges, including attempted second-degree murder — which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole upon conviction — were dismissed.
Kahihikolo shot his 42-year-old girlfriend in the head with a shotgun during a domestic dispute at their Outrigger Drive home.
The woman sought medical attention for the gunshot wound at the Ocean View Fire Station and was taken to Kona Community Hospital for treatment. West Hawaii Juvenile Aid Section detectives identified Kahihikolo as the suspect, and a media release was issued on that day requesting the public’s assistance in locating him.
With a manhunt for Kahihikolo in progress, a police-involved shooting in Kailua-Kona left another suspect dead during a traffic stop on Palani Road in Kailua-Kona.
West Hawaii Vice detectives received information that Kahihikolo was in the Kona area in the company of associates driving two stolen vehicles, a silver Chevy Malibu and a white Dodge sedan.
Officers spotted the Malibu traveling southbound on Kamakaeha Avenue. The car stopped at the intersection of Kamakaeha and Palani Road, and the man driving the Malibu ignored officers’ commands to show them his hands, instead reaching for an object. Two detectives discharged their duty weapons, striking the driver, 32-year-old Kainoa Kahele-Bishop of Kailua-Kona, who died at the scene.
Investigators later recovered multiple firearms from the Chevy.
As these events were unfolding, the white Dodge sedan believed to be driven by Kahihikolo was spotted traveling northbound towards Waimea. Officers pursued him and, according to court documents, he drove in excess of 115 mph during some portions of the pursuit. The Charger was found on a side road in lower Kalopa off Highway 19 in Hamakua.
Kahihikolo was apprehended on March 11, 2023, in Hamakua district near Highway 19 at the 39.5 mile marker.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
