HILO — A 25-year-old Mountain View man whose high-speed rampage behind the wheel of a stolen car in April resulted in him being shot at by a police officer was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.
During sentencing, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara called Daesyn Pacheco-Muragin “a danger to the community” and ordered him to make restitution totaling more than $16,800 to three victims.
Pacheco-Muragin pleaded guilty in October to three counts of terroristic threatening, five counts of driving a stolen vehicle, two counts of second-degree theft, plus promoting a dangerous drug, unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle and reckless endangering. He also pleaded no contest to second-degree burglary for breaking into a Mountain View home on Nov. 6, 2014.
In return for his pleas, prosecutors dropped a firearms charge, another drug charge, two drug paraphernalia charges, and agreed not to press numerous potential charges under investigation.
According to police, on April 10, Pacheco-Muragin drove a stolen Honda sedan toward a patrol car driven by Officer Lloyd Ishikawa on Mokuna Street in Royal Hawaiian Estates in Volcano.
After narrowly missing Ishikawa’s car, Pacheco-Muragin fled toward Hilo on Volcano Highway (Highway 11), drove through a road construction site and at two special-duty police officers directing traffic, Lt. James Gusman and Officer Daniel Kuwabara.
Court documents state Gusman fired three shots and hit the Honda, which continued toward Hilo. Neither Gusman or Kuwabara were injured.
Deputy Prosecutor Haaheo Kahoohalahala told the judge Pacheco-Muragin had only a minor criminal record prior to 2014, but committed a spate of crimes in the past two years and “clearly has a drug problem.”
“Daesyn Pacheco-Muragin has absolutely no regard for property or safety or others,” Kahoohalahala said. “Over the course of approximately seven months, he has gone on a crime spree, committing over 14 crimes, including driving at least seven cars that were reported stolen. The only way to protect the public from this defendant is by putting him in prison.”
Deputy Public Defender Zachary Wingert, one of two defense lawyers, said his client is “willing to take responsibility and move forward from here.”
“For most of your life, until the last couple of years, you were relatively crime free. What happened?” the judge asked Pacheco-Muragin.
“I don’t know. Drugs,” he replied.
“Well, if that’s the case, Mr. Pacheco-Muragin, there’s a lot of effort to be made to correct the problem, and, unfortunately, you won’t be in the most ideal place to do that. But I do agree with the prosecutor at this point; (if) you have a drug problem and it’s resulting in this much crime, you are a danger to the community.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
