MEDIA RELEASE
Thanks to tips from the public, Hawaiʻi Island police have identified and arrested a couple wanted for several auto thefts that occurred in the Hilo area.
On August 5, Police published an August 4 photo of a woman operating a 1985 Nissan pickup truck that was stolen July 30 from a shopping center on Puainako Street in Hilo. The photo was taken shortly after a 2001 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was stolen from the bayfront area of Hilo. Concerned citizens helped police identify the woman in the photo as 29-year-old Marilee Morrison of Kurtistown.
On August 24, Morrison and 32-year-old Kamalu Keawe of Kurtistown were arrested in Mountain View after exiting a 2005 Dodge Ram pickup truck that was stolen from a business on Makaʻala Street in the early hours of August 21. Police determined that Keawe had been the driver of the Dodge.
During the investigation, police determined that Morrison had used the stolen Nissan to drive Keawe to the bayfront area to steal the Toyota Tacoma on August 4.
After conferring with prosecutors, police charged Morrison with unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and being an accomplice to second-degree theft. Her bail was set at $4,000. Keawe was charged with three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle. His bail was set at $30,000.
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