KAILUA-KONA – Seven people were arrested during a 24-hour period for loitering in the lower East Rift Zone eruption area, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said.
At around 8:15 p.m. Monday, three people were cited by DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers. DOCARE reports the trio was standing on hardened lava near Railroad Avenue and Papaya Farms Road. Officers indicate the people were about 60 feet from the active lava channel. Cited were 49-year-old Malaika Maphalala, 41-year-old Ralph Unger and 18-year-old Kumsa Maphalala, all of Pahoa.
Then, early Tuesday morning, a USGS field crew using a drone to map the lava flow reported to Hawaii Police that they’d spotted an unauthorized drone circling Fissure 8 and then flying back toward Lava Tree State Park. County police along with DOCARE officers searched the area around the park and didn’t find anyone. They continued checks on Forest Road and in Nanawale Estates and found a vehicle in front of a barricade. Officers ticketed the vehicle for obstructing traffic and numerous equipment infractions.
Later, four people were located inside two barricaded areas where they were cited for loitering in a disaster zone and a drone in the possession of one individual was confiscated. Cited were David and Sunnee Bishop, both 40 and of Hong Kong, and 42-year-old Burke Holbrook and 43-year-old Nancy Holbrook both of Honolulu.
On July 15, 27-year old Aaron Spicer of New Hampshire was cited after he allegedly circumvented a checkpoint on Highway 132, went past several coned-off closed roads and a cement barricade to enter Lava Tree State Park. Officers say he was on a motorcycle and was also cited for having an expired safety check.
Since the beginning of the current eruption in early May, nearly 90 people have been cited. Under an emergency proclamation, potential fines and jail time for anyone convicted of loitering in the eruption zone could be as high as $5,000 and one year in jail.