Caceres named Kona Officer of the Month

Detective Anson Caceres was recognized Dec. 7 by the Kona Crime Prevention Committee as Officer of the Month for December during an awards ceremony at Huggo’s on the Rocks in Kailua-Kona.

According to the Hawaii Police Department, Caceres’ exhaustive efforts reviewing video surveillance footage from numerous sources resulted in the break leading to charges in two West Hawaii murder investigations and two East Hawaii attempted murder investigations.

Chito Asuncion, 24, of Kona was arrested on June 8 and charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the stabbing deaths of 48-year-old Boyd Maygra the day before at Hale Halawai county park in Kona and 63-year-old Brian Macauley of Kailua-Kona on May 17 near the intersection of Palani Road and Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Asuncion also was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the nonfatal stabbings of a 59-year-old Hilo man on May 25 and a 70-year-old Hilo woman on May 30. Both alleged incidents took place in Hilo.

Asuncion is being held without bail while he receives mental examinations by three mental health professionals. He’s scheduled to appear on Jan. 19 before Kona Circuit Judge Robert Kim.

“Caceres’ unwavering determination was an integral part of this investigation delivering the proverbial ‘big break’ in the case. His dedication to duty and thoroughness is an excellent example of the department’s commitment to providing the highest quality police service, to make Hawaii Island a safe place to live, visit and conduct business,” according to an HPD press release.

Every month the Kona Crime Prevention Committee honors a police officer in West Hawaii as their Officer of the Month.

Officers are nominated by their supervisors from the various police districts and a winner is selected by the KCPC board of directors. All officers selected for Officer of the Month are eligible to be selected as KCPC’s Officer of the Year.