Puna man, 54, charged with terroristic threatening
Hawaii island police have charged a Puna man with terroristic threatening following an incident that occurred at a Hawaiian Acres residence in early February.
The suspect is identified as 54-year-old William Alfred Peleiholani.
On Feb. 1, police said a Hawaiian Acres couple returned to their home and discovered it had been burglarized. While waiting for police to respond, a late model silver Ford F-150 pickup truck pulled into the driveway of the property. The victim went up to the pickup and was confronted by a male driver, who brandished what appeared to be a firearm and verbally threatened the couple before fleeing the area.
Officers conducted a follow-up investigation of the incident, which was classified as terroristic threatening, and were able to identify Peleiholani as the suspect.
On Thursday, South Hilo police conducted a traffic stop on the truck operated by Peleiholani and arrested him for unrelated traffic offenses. The truck was taken in as evidence, and detectives with a search warrant recovered a replica firearm from within the cab area.
Peleiholani was charged on Friday with first-degree terroristic threatening. Bail was set at $5,000. He is currently being held at the Hilo cellblock pending his initial appearance at South Hilo District Court today.