2 Hawaii island fugitives and woman are arrested after long investigation
A pair of former fugitives remain behind bars after being apprehended separately last week by the Hawaii Police Department.
The two, 40-year-old Malani Donald Tavui and 31-year-old Alexander Ikieolagarcia Kauwe, both of Puna, are charged with multiple offenses.
The charges against both stem from multiple, islandwide incidents reported over the past several months and investigated by patrol officers, the East Hawaii Crime Reduction Unit and the East and West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Divisions.
During the months-long investigations and manhunt for Tavui and Kauwe, police were assisted by state Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement officers, U.S. marshals, the FBI and county prosecutors.
During the course of these investigations, police obtained multiple search and arrest warrants for these people and homes they were known to frequent. Officers recovered six illegally owned firearms and five stolen vehicles associated with Tavui and Kauwe.
Additionally, police identified several other stolen vehicles they were allegedly driving. However, they’ve not yet been found.
Acting on a tip, officers Thursday morning spotted a stolen vehicle at a Maile Street home in Pahoa and arrested 19-year-old Layla Subica — an acquaintance of Tavui’s — who was sleeping inside the vehicle.
According to police, Tavui was hiding under a bed upstairs, and officers arrested him without incident.
Tavui was charged with: unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle; first-degree theft; six firearm offenses; three counts of first-degree criminal property damage; two counts of second-degree criminal property damage; three counts of habitual property crime; driving without a license; two counts of first-degree resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle; and three probation violations.
At Tavui’s initial court appearance Friday, Deputy Public Defender Arthur Indiola requested Tavui be freed on supervised release — a form of cashless bail. Deputy Prosecutor Rich Kuhlmann objected and requested that Tavui’s bail be maintained.
Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach took judicial notice of three pending cases in Hilo Circuit Court, maintained Tavui’s bail at $238,750 and ordered him to return to court today for a preliminary hearing.
Following the execution of a search warrant on the stolen vehicle Subica was in, she was charged with second-degree unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle; possessing a loaded firearm and ammunition; plus methamphetamine and marijuana possession.