Police fire at fleeing car-theft suspect in Hilo shopping center

HILO >> Police who tried to arrest a woman in a stolen Toyota pickup truck in a busy Hilo shopping center ended up repeatedly firing shots at the car after the driver allegedly drove toward officers and struck a parked car, police said.

An off-duty officer spotted a vehicle that was the subject of an all-points bulletin driving through the parking lot at 50 Puainako St. shortly before noon today, police said. South Hilo patrol officers and members of the police Special Enforcement Unit then tried to stop the truck, which had fraudulent license plates, police said.

“The truck drove towards an officer initially, and that officer discharged several rounds,” said Criminal Investigation Section Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins. Police said the vehicle drove past the officer, and struck a parked car with a 71-year-old man sitting inside.

The truck then skidded into the driveway of a Jack in the Box restaurant, and then reversed and nearly struck a patrol officer, who also fired “several rounds,” Amon-Wilkins said.

The driver and truck then fled from the parking lot, exiting onto Kilauea Avenue and driving toward Puna, Amon-Wilkins said. Police initially pursued the truck, but quickly ended the chase because a high-speed pursuit in heavy traffic on wet roads would pose a danger to the public, he said.

Amon-Wilkins said he does not know how many shots were fired, but said there were no reports of injuries. The shots were fired by a patrol officer who has six years experience with the department, and by a plainclothes officer who is a 15-year veteran with the department.

The case has been classified as first-degree attempted murder, and detectives from the Office of Professional Standards are conducting an independent administrative investigation into the discharge of weapons.

Police are looking for 24-year-old Tearon Pacheco-Fernandez in connection with the incident. She is known to frequent the Puna and Hilo areas, and is about 4 feet, 9 inches tall. She weighs about 110 pounds, and has medium-length black hair.

Pacheco-Fernandez is wanted on two outstanding warrants, and is also being sought for questioning in connection to another incident in which she allegedly rammed an unmarked police vehicle. Police warn the public against confronting Pacheco-Fernandez, and ask that they instead call police at (808) 935-3311 and provide her location.

Police are also seeking witnesses to the Wednesday shooting as well as anyone who has seen the Toyota truck, which is a lifted Tacoma Extra-Cab pickup, spray-painted grey with factory front rims and blacked-out rear rims, with the rear plate ZCT-556 and the front plate HDZ-877. The truck was believed to have been stolen from a business on Makalika Street in Hilo in early November.

Anyone who has other information about the incident is asked to call Detective Wendall Carter at (808) 961-2383 or email wendall.carter@hawaiicounty.gov.