Two people have been arrested as part of their ongoing investigation into an incident involving an armed robbery, a traffic collision, and a suspect shooting at an officer that occurred in Kona Thursday evening. Police arrested 27-year-old Dyllan Paulo-Leslie, of Kailua-Kona, for first-degree attempted murder, robbery, and reckless endangering. Thirty-four-year-old Brittany Johnson, of Holualoa, was arrested for robbery in the same incident.
At 8:00 p.m., on Thursday, November 10, 2022, Kona patrol officers responded to a report of an active armed robbery at a business in the 73-5000 block of Kauhola Street in the Kaloko Light Industrial Park in Kailua-Kona. The suspect, described as a man armed with a firearm wearing dark clothing and a face covering, entered the establishment and brandished the firearm. He removed an undisclosed amount of currency from the service counter area as patrons and employees fled the area.
The man then fled the scene in a gray lifted pick-up truck with a female passenger. A responding patrol unit saw a vehicle matching the description leaving the area and proceeded to turn around to investigate further. Prior to contacting the suspect vehicle, it was involved in a traffic collision with another vehicle at the intersection of Route 190 and Hina Lani Street, rendering both vehicles inoperable.
Arriving at the scene of the crash, the officer was walking towards the vehicles to check on the occupants when he was shot at by the male suspect. The bullet narrowly missed the officer and struck the rear driver’s side tire of the patrol vehicle. As the officer radioed for assistance, the suspect and his female passenger fled the area on foot.
Responding patrol units located the pair a short time later and they were taken into custody without further incident.
The officer was uninjured and did not fire his service pistol during the incident.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 51-year-old female from Kailua-Kona, did not require medical attention at the scene.
Hawai‘i Police Department’s Area II Criminal Investigation Section is continuing this investigation.
Police ask anyone with information on this incident to call the police department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311, or Detective Sheldon Nakamoto of the Area II Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 326-4646, ext. 228, or via email at Sheldon.nakamoto@hawaiicounty.gov.
Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call the islandwide Crime Stoppers number at (808) 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
