A 52-year-old South Kona man has been charged with arson in connection with a suspicious church fire reported last Thursday in Captain Cook.
At 2 p.m. Wednesday, detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section charged Richard Paul Read, of Captain Cook, with one count first-degree arson and one count first-degree criminal property damage, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Kona Patrol officers responded to a report of a fire at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Captain Cook. When they arrived at 6:01 a.m. on Feb. 26, firefighters were on the scene and the north rear entrance was engulfed in flames.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and determined that it was deliberately set. Damage, estimated at more than $80,000, was limited to the north side of the building, according to police.
Bail for Read was set at $15,000. He was being held at the Kona cellblock pending his initial court appearance scheduled for Thursday.