HILO, Hawai‘i — A 31-year-old Hawaiian Paradise Park man admitted shooting an acquaintance Friday morning — and there is video footage of the incident, according to court documents filed by police.
Vasiliy Viktorovich Trubachev allegedly told an officer he shot 32-year-old Roman Zubkov, whom both Trubachev and his 68-year-old mother, Lyudmila Trubachev, claimed had threatened them with a knife and a glass bottle at the Trubachevs’ 7th Avenue home.
Lyudmila Trubachev also claimed Zubkov had demanded $1,000 and food.
According to the documents, Lyudmila Trubachev spoke mostly Russian, and Officer Elik Vodovoz from East Hawai‘i Vice Section was brought in to translate.
Police obtained surveillance video from a home across the street that showed Zubkov running toward the neighboring home and Vasiliy Trubachev shooting at Zubkov with a dark-colored handgun, the documents state.
On the video, Zubkov was seen stumbling into the front yard of the home with the video equipment, and Trubachev walked back toward his own home.
Police also reportedly obtained cellphone video of the shooting from Trubachev’s 24-year-old brother, Valentine Trubachev.
While police interviewed the Trubachevs, multiple bystanders told them about a man lying in the grass on Makuu Drive between 6th and 7th avenues, documents state.
The man turned out to be Zubkov, who was taken by ambulance to the Hilo Benioff Medical Center emergency room, where he was treated for multiple gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and abdomen, police said.
Zubkov remained hospitalized in stable condition.
Video from a few minutes after the shooting shows Vasiliy Trubachev climbing into a white flatbed tow truck at his family’s home and emerging with a black rifle, the documents state.
Police conducted firearms checks for Vasiliy, Lyudmila and Valentine Trubachev, as well as Vasiliy Trubachev’s 65-year-old father, Viktor Trubachev.
Among them, only Valentine Trubachev had registered firearms: a Radical 5.56 semi-automatic rifle with a 16-inch barrel; Stevens .12 gauge pump-action shotgun with a 19-inch barrel; Springfield 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a 3.3-inch barrel; Landor Arms .12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun with an 18.5-inch barrel; Palmetto State Armory 7.62 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a 16-inch barrel; and a HI-Point 9×19 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a 16.5-inch barrel.
Zubkov told police he had known the Trubachevs for years and denied demanding money or making threats.
Vasiliy Trubachev, who was charged with attempted second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, made his initial court appearance Monday.
Pamela Lundquist, Trubachev’s private attorney, asked Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk to free her client on supervised release, a form of cashless bail.
Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Son objected and Hawk denied Lundquist’s motion without prejudice — meaning she can revisit the request. Hawk, who recused himself from the case after Monday’s hearing, granted Lundquist’s request for a reduction in bail, cutting Trubachev’s bail in half from $1.1 million to $550,000.
Hawk also ordered Trubachev to return Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Neither Vasiliy Trubachev nor Zubkov have any felony convictions in Hawai‘i, according to court records.
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Reporter John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
