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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 20, 2005

Suspect charged in Kona shooting

Advertiser Staff

Charles K. Paulino, 25, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder, theft and drug promotion after allegedly firing shots at three state highway workers. He is being held in a Kona police cellblock in lieu of $279,000 bail.

Paulino, a Hilo, Hawai'i, resident, was arrested at 10 p.m. Wednesday as he was walking along Hawai'i Belt Road, about three miles from the scene of the shooting earlier that day. When officers confronted the man, he allegedly tried to pull a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun from his waistband, but police were able to subdue him.

In addition to a loaded gun, which allegedly had a laser sight, police said they also recovered a pipe used for smoking crystal methamphetamine.

Paulino also faces charges for using a firearm during a felony, criminal property damage, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal possession of a gun, prohibited ownership of a gun and not having a permit to buy a gun.

The three highway workers were inspecting their base yard off Hawai'i Belt Road in North Kona at about 9 a.m. on Wednesday when they encountered a man trying to remove a backhoe from the gated facility. When they chased him, he fired several shots at them, police said.