KILAUEA — A felon recently released from prison was arrested Sunday night in Kilauea for shooting a man in the arm. Kaleo Lovell Martin, 32, of Kilauea, was arrested after a seven-hour standoff Sunday night and charged with attempted murder.
KILAUEA — A felon recently released from prison was arrested Sunday night in Kilauea for shooting a man in the arm.
Kaleo Lovell Martin, 32, of Kilauea, was arrested after a seven-hour standoff Sunday night and charged with attempted murder. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
The Kauai Police Department responded to a complaint of reckless endangerment at 2:51 p.m. Sunday at Martin’s home at 4155 Kilauea Road, according to a county press release. Officers arrived to find a 36-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his arm.
The victim reportedly knew Martin and told officers that Martin had shot him before being transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released that same evening.
According to the news release, Martin was armed and fled the scene prior to responders arriving, and investigators learned that the suspect was holed up in a shed on the same private property. Police secured the perimeter, and closed both lanes of Kilauea Road to pedestrians and vehicles from Titcomb Street to Kahili Quarry Road. Four KPD negotiators succeeded in talking Martin, who goes by the nickname “Kountry,” according to court records, into surrendering peacefully around 10:30 p.m.
Some neighbors near Martin’s house said on Monday they were family of the suspect, but declined to comment.
“I am sorry but we can’t say anything — it’s family,” one next-door neighbor said.
Martin was stunned with a Taser and arrested following a five-hour standoff that also required closing Kilauea Road on Sept. 22, 2008. He was sentenced to five years in prison on April 21, 2009.
Martin, then 27, was in possession of a firearm and a machete when he fled the scene at 4149 Kilauea Road in a police vehicle. He was charged with nine counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, one count of family abuse, two counts of first-degree criminal property damage, one count of second-degree criminal property damage and one count of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
According to court records, Martin’s previous convictions include misdemeanor third-degree assault, third-degree property damage, and second-degree terroristic threats. He would serve 60 days for the assault, and 14 days for each of the other two charges in Kauai District Court.
Martin was also arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, and first-degree burglary on Jan. 20, 2008. There is no record of the conviction or sentence in that matter.
While the suspect was at large on Sunday, some neighbors closed down their businesses while the incident played out.
Patricia Ewing, president of E. Wing, Ltd, the company that manages Hong Lung Historic Market Center, said she got a call from the manager of the Kong Lung store in the early afternoon. With the suspect still at-large, she said the safety of staff and customers became the priority and they closed the store.
“The visitors didn’t seem to be fazed by the disturbance,” Ewing said. “Many of them just went next door to The Bistro for dinner and cocktails.”
Janet Teves, store manager, said even before the police arrived the commotion indicated that something unusual was happening.
“When the S.W.A.T. Team (KPD Special Services Team) arrived, we knew something wasn’t right,” Teves said.
The SST cleared the property, which consisted of multiple dwellings, and confirmed that the suspect had fled the scene prior to KPD’s arrival, said the county report.
With the roads closed for several hours, The Bistro remained open as a place for locals and visitors to wait out the manhunt and standoff. Mitchell McPeek, co-owner of Kilauea Town Farmers Market & Deli, said they made the decision to close down after police notified them that the suspect was still at large. It was nearing closing time and there was no great loss of business, he said.
McPeek said the arrival of the Kauai Fire Department and the ambulance indicated that there was a medical emergency, but with so many police he assumed there was something else wrong.
“But I really didn’t know much more about what happened until customers talked about it on Monday morning,” McPeek said.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
