LIHU‘E — A joint operation between U.S. Marshals and Kaua‘i Police Department yielded three fugitive arrests last week.
Dozens of officers from the U.S. Marshals Service and its Fugitive Task Force — which includes representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Honolulu Police Department — along with KPD detectives, were involved in the arrests, which drew attention on social media.
One witness, who wished to remain anonymous, spotted two vans blocking in a small car outside of the Lihu‘e McDonalds on the morning of March 31.
“I saw someone in the second van pull a rifle and I thought, uh-oh, this is going to be some sort of shooting affair,” he said. “I tried to get out of the way but it took me about half a minute to get out of the vicinity.”
He suspected that there were at least two dozen law enforcement officers, many armed with rifles, on the scene.
Their target was Shaun Reis, a 37-year-old Kapa‘a resident who was arrested for non-compliance with the Hawai‘i Penal Code. Reis has been convicted of six crimes and arrested 25 times, including once for assaulting police officers, according to an earlier The Garden Island article.
He was apprehended and transported to the Hawai‘i State Hospital on O‘ahu.
The evening before, Alika Soares, 39, of Kalaheo, was arrested at the houseless campgrounds behind the Lihu‘e Airport on a $50,000 warrant to revoke or modify his probation from a previous felony drug arrest.
This marked Soares’ 79th arrest, 23 of which have led to convictions. He was transported to the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center in Wailua.
Two days later, Brandon Kame‘enui, 37, of Kapa‘a, was arrested at 10:30 a.m. at the Lydgate Park campgrounds in the vicinity of the Bynum Bridge bathroom area based on a warrant for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle.
He has been convicted of 11 crimes previously, police report.
Following his Saturday arrest, he was released on $500 bail.
The U.S. Marshals Service also worked with KPD detectives on a sexual offender compliance check last week involving 143 registered sex offenders. They found 11 were non-compliant, and of those, one had relocated to another state and is registered there. The non-compliant cases will be referred to the county Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for further action.
“I want to thank everyone who was involved in these extensive operations,” said KPD Investigative Services Bureau Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce.
“I’m grateful to our officers for the hard work they put into this. I’m also appreciative of all the U.S. Marshals Service officers and representatives in the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force because we wouldn’t be able to do this without them.”
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
