A 37-year-old Mountain View man who was shot by a police officer or sheriff’s deputy who attempted to serve an arrest warrant late last month entered not-guilty pleas Thursday to numerous offenses.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara scheduled trial for Jomal Gin Ford at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 7. Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville estimated the trial would take three weeks.
A grand jury indictment on Aug. 26 charged Ford with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, plus driving a stolen vehicle and refusing an order to stop. He’s accused of attempting to run over Hawaii Police Department Officer Paul Wright and state sheriff’s deputies Dennis Branco and Gerard Moses with a pickup truck on Aug. 20 while they were attempting to serve a no-bail warrant revoking Ford’s bail.
Wright and Branco reportedly fired shots at the truck, and one of the bullets hit Ford. Moses was struck by the truck and suffered minor injuries.
Both Ford and Moses were treated for their injuries at Hilo Medical Center and released.
The incident allegedly occurred at a Mauna Lani Tract Road home. Police say they later learned the truck was stolen.
Robert Curtis, Ford’s court-appointed attorney, requested a bail reduction, saying his client’s bail was “a little over $2 million” for the charges in the indictment.
Damerville noted the no-bail warrant on the probation revocation and told the judge, “My review of the file indicates there’s never been a bail study completed in this case.”
Hara ordered a bail study and scheduled a bail hearing for 1 p.m. Sept. 17.
Ford remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.