Hawaii County police, with the help of a fire helicopter crew, conducted an all-day manhunt Tuesday for an carjacking suspect that began in Hilo and ended on the slopes of Mauna Kea.
Police captured convicted felon Jeremy Rios at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as he walked out of a pasture onto Mauna Kea Access Road. An officer at a roadblock took him into custody.
Between 12 and 14 police officers and fire helicopter personnel scoured the area of the Mauna Kea Access Road where Rios allegedly abandoned a stolen car and fled into the brush on foot.
The 31-year-old Rios has 38 prior convictions, including 13 convictions in 2012 and including four felonies: car theft, first-degree attempted assault on a police officer, felony abuse of a family member and second-degree theft.
Police shut down Mauna Kea Access Road early Tuesday afternoon and cautioned the public not to pick up hitchhikers on Saddle Road. Police set up a roadblock at the entrance to the access road, and reopened it after Rios’ capture.
Tuesday morning a man was spotted "flashing a firearm" in a black Honda sedan while driving on Kinoole Street in Hilo.
Officers responded at 7:40 a.m. and found the car in a parking lot on Kinoole Road.
The car sped off onto Kinoole Street, turned right on Ohea Street and broadsided a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck at Ohea and Kilauea Avenue, injuring the driver, police said.
Capt. Robert Wagner of the Criminal Investigative Services said Rios got out of his car, approached a woman in a white Honda sedan, who was stopped in traffic because of the crash, and stole the car, leaving her behind.
She was not injured.
"He then jumped in her car, took her car and got into a wreck with another car before leaving the area," Wagner said.
