Hawaii island man charged in Kailua-Kona robbery

Hawaii County prosecutors charged a 31-year-old Kona man Wednesday with 11 offenses stemming from a Kailua-Kona robbery.

Police said Jacob DeMasters allegedly confronted a 36-year-old Ocean View man on the night of Dec. 16 as he came out of a garage access area at Kona Plaza. He allegedly repeatedly hit the victim with a metal chain, then grabbed cash from the victim’s hand and ran, police said.

Detectives determined DeMasters’ identity and arrested him Wednesday.

DeMasters was charged with robbery, assault and theft. He was also charged with three counts of promoting a dangerous drug, two counts of promoting a harmful drug, one count of promoting a detrimental drug and two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia for items that were in the car he was in at the time of his arrest.

DeMasters was held in lieu of $18,750 bail and made his initial court appearance today.