Two suspects arrested a week ago at gunpoint in front of the Lihu‘e Subway restaurant had been brandishing a toy semi-automatic weapon moments earlier, according to police. The Kaua‘i Police Department yesterday released the names of the suspects, Kristy Hoapili,
Two suspects arrested a week ago at gunpoint in front of the Lihu‘e Subway restaurant had been brandishing a toy semi-automatic weapon moments earlier, according to police.
The Kaua‘i Police Department yesterday released the names of the suspects, Kristy Hoapili, 26, and Paeaimauli Ikimaka, 22, both of Hanama‘ulu.
The two were arrested on March 6 for three counts of first-degree terrorisitc threatening after police received a 911 call around 3:30 p.m. that the driver, Ikimaka, had been holding a gun in his hand.
The emergency call came from one of three inside the car that was traveling ahead of Ikimaka, who reported he had honked at them and then brandished the toy weapon.
Lt. Kaleo Perez said, according to the report, the car in front of Ikimaka was traveling slowly, and Ikimaka was holding the gun with the steering wheel in a way that was, to those in the car ahead, life threatening.
“Whether it’s real or a toy, it doesn’t make a difference, as long as the threat is perceived,” Perez said. “If I’m in the front car and I look and see a gun, I’m going to think it’s real.”
Perez likened the situation to bank robberies in which suspects pretend to have weapons.
“It’s just like going into a bank and someone holding a toy pistol under their shirt,” he said. “The tellers perceive that as a real threat. It’s the same situation for road rage.”
Because he was considered armed, all Lihu‘e officers, including the on-duty supervisor, started checking different roads to find the Toyota Camry Ikimaka was driving. Once an officer spotted the car, about 10 to 15 minutes after the 911 call reported Ikimaka was heading west, police had him surrounded just off Kuhio Highway in front of the Lihu‘e Subway restaurant.
Officers then handcuffed both Hoapili and Ikimaka at gunpoint and, after obtaining a search warrant, recovered a black toy gun that resembled a semi-automatic pistol. They then took the two into custody, Perez said.
First-degree terroristic threatening is classified as using a weapon to threaten another, according to police.
Each of the three Class C felony charges Ikimaka and Hoapili face carry a five-year maximum sentence.
Ikimaka’s bail was set at $15,000. He has since been released after posting bail.
Hoapili was released pending further investigation.
