Hawai‘i Island police have charged 34-year-old Jacob Robert Altman of Kailua-Kona with numerous offenses stemming from a robbery and theft investigation that occurred in Keauhou.

On Tuesday morning, March 9, 2021, a woman reported that an unknown man attempted to take her SUV by using physical force on Ali’i Drive near the Keauhou Shopping Center. The man was successful in entering her vehicle, although he was unsuccessful in driving the vehicle away. The man then abruptly exited the SUV and attempted to enter a sedan that had stopped to assist the woman. The driver of the sedan was able to flee the area before the man entered their vehicle. The responsible male party, later identified as Altman, then fled the area.

A short time later, police dispatch received a series of calls from the area of Keauhou Bay alerting police that a man matching the same description as the person involved in the earlier vehicle incident, had taken a man’s cell phone by force. Altman was then observed taking a utility vehicle, which he drove south through a resort property damaging lighting and sprinklers. He eventually abandoned the utility vehicle at the south end of Ali‘i Drive and fled on foot in a southerly direction. After a search of the area, Altman was located and arrested.

After conferring with county prosecutors, detectives charged Altman on Wednesday, March 10, with one count of first degree robbery, one count of first degree unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, one count of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, and one count of second degree theft. He is being held at the Kealakehe Police Station cellblock in lieu of bail set at $16,000.

Police ask anyone who may have additional information on the incident to contact Detective Mike Santos of the Area II Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 326-4646 ext. 224 or email at michael.santos@hawaiicounty.gov.