MEDIA RELEASE

Big Island police are looking for witnesses to a large rock being thrown at a moving motor vehicle.

A 59-year-old Pāhoa man reported that he was driving a van on Highway 130 near Pāhoa around 2:10 p.m. Tuesday (April 10) when a man on the side of the road threw a large rock through the passenger-side windshield of the van.

No one was injured in the incident.

Police located the suspect, 49-year-old John Vezina of Hilo, and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree criminal property damage. He is being held at the Hilo police cellblock while detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Section continue the investigation.

The van is described as a 1995 maroon and bronze Chevy Astro. It was traveling on Highway 130 in the Keaʻau direction near the intersection of Highway 132.

Police ask anyone who saw the incident or who saw anyone throwing rocks at vehicles to call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311 or contact Detective Joel Field by phone at 961-2381 or by email at jfield@co.hawaii.hi.us.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona 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.