HOLUALOA — A man is in police custody in the wake of crime spree that reportedly began in Hilo, involved gunshots fired at a Kailua-Kona shopping center, multiple vehicle thefts and the response of the police department’s Special Response Team to a Holualoa home.
The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Joshua Hams of Kailua-Kona. He has been arrested for multiple felony offenses at this time, although he has not yet been charged.
The Hawaii Police Department’s Special Response Team took Hams into custody shortly before 2 p.m. in the area of Kalamauka Road off Highway 180. His apprehension followed an hour-plus standoff that ensued after the man — armed with a shotgun — barricaded himself at a home.
Police say he surrendered peacefully and that there were no injuries reported.
South Hilo patrol officers responded at 8:19 a.m. Wednesday to a call of a possibly mentally unstable male at a hotel on Banyan Drive in Hilo. The reporting party stated the male might have been armed with a firearm and was operating a dark colored Honda SUV. Officers, after initially not being able to locate the male, located him just after 9:20 a.m. in the area of the hotel on Banyan Drive.
The driver of the vehicle refused to stop, and police did not continue to pursue the vehicle out of concern for public safety. A short time later, police responded to a call of a traffic accident with the same suspect vehicle and a dark colored Toyota truck at the intersection of Komohana Street and West Kawailani Street in Hilo. The driver of the Toyota truck was not injured in the accident.
Around 10:50 a.m. Ka’u Patrol officers received a call reporting a male party in his mid to late 20s, with no shirt and numerous tattoos, walking on the side of the road just south of the Naalehu Police Station carrying a firearm. Shortly after, officers responded to a report of a State of Hawaii truck that was stolen from the State Highways base yard in Ka’u. The state truck was driven through several gates before heading out of the base yard. The dark colored Honda SUV wanted in the earlier traffic crash was located in the base yard.
The suspect allegedly sideswiped a dark colored Ford sedan heading north on Highway 11 and reportedly robbed a gas station at gunpoint near the 110-mile-marker on Route 11. He left with an undisclosed amount of currency. No one was injured in the robbery or crash.
Just after noon, the stolen state vehicle was located by police in the area of Ahulani Street in Kailua-Kona. The suspect fired his gun out of the window before fleeing the area.
Hams then traveled to Makala Street, where he fired at the front door of the AT&T Store at Kona Commons. Hams allegedly removed several items before fleeing the area. No one was hurt in the robbery.
The suspect hit several cars at the intersection of Kuakini Highway and Hualalai Road and then acquired another vehicle at gunpoint from a female party at a gas station on Lako Street.
Police reportedly chased the man on foot to the home after he allegedly abandoned a vehicle in the Kalamauka Road area.
Some places went into lockdown after news of the shots spread, including the Mokuaikaua Church preschool in Kailua Village.
