LIHU‘E — The lifeless body of Daniel Bonanno was discovered in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck Monday morning, just one day after the 47-year-old Kapa‘a man, owner of a long criminal record, was released after years behind bars.

Bonanno had been released Sunday from Halawa Correctional Center on O‘ahu, where he had been serving a five-year prison term for a second-degree theft conviction, officials said.

That sentence was running concurrently with a five-year term imposed for a high-speed chase involving as many as eight Kaua‘i Police Department vehicles in 2004, court and correctional system records and The Garden Island archives show.

Bonanno was arrested for fourth-degree theft, second-degree criminal property damage, resisting an order to stop his vehicle and reckless driving for the chase where vehicle speeds reached 75 miles per hour through Lihu‘e, according to Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer at the time of the chase.

During the April 2004 incident, KPD officers received a report of occupants of a vehicle, described by witnesses as a small, off-white Toyota sedan, who allegedly stole items from the Home Depot in Kukui Grove Village West.

Officers spotted the car on Haleko Road in Lihu‘e, but the driver refused to stop, according to the 2004 county press release.

According to Ozaki, KPD officers chased the vehicle down Rice Street, past Nawiliwili Harbor, past Kukui Grove Center, onto Kaumuali‘i Highway, and headed east, back into Lihu‘e and onto Kuhio Highway.

In Kapaia, in the vicinity of Ken Silva’s Auto Body, the car was boxed in by KPD officers, and Bonanno and his wife were arrested.

At points during the chase, vehicles hit speeds over 75 mph, and the Toyota hit a police car on the passenger side, causing minor damage.

Eventually, Bonanno was charged with criminal property damage, theft, resisting an order to stop his vehicle, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence of an intoxicant, driving while under the influence of an intoxicant with a suspended license, failure to obey traffic signals, driving on the wrong side of the road, and failure to obey posted speed limits.

He eventually pleaded guilty to one theft and one criminal property damage charge, the other charges were dropped in a plea agreement, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Bonanno in 2004 was also arrested in relation to an armed robbery at Coconut Marketplace, when a visitor was accosted in the men’s restroom by a man brandishing a gun, said Ozaki. He was released pending further investigation.

Bonanno was discovered with apparent injuries at around 7:30 a.m. Monday on Loop Road near the top of Kuamo‘o Road in Wailua Homesteads, county officials announced earlier this week. Originally, Bonanno’s last name was incorrectly stated as Buonanno, and his age was incorrectly stated as 37.

On Tuesday, following an autopsy, KPD announced that it had opened a homicide investigation. Repeated attempts to garner further information from county officials regarding Bonanno’s injuries, the status of the investigation and if KPD has any persons of interest or suspects in custody have been unsuccessful.

• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.