Media release from Hawaii County Police Department

Claude Keone Krause, courtesy HPD

Big Island police have charged a 30-year-old Kurtistown man with a variety of offenses following his arrest on Monday (October 8th) in Puna for allegedly stealing a car.

On August 17, at about 6:30 a.m., police received a report of a sighting of a vehicle that had been reportedly stolen from a home in Kurtistown. The stolen vehicle was recovered but the driver fled prior to the officers’ arrival.

Claude Keone Krause was identified as the driver and police were seeking him for questioning.

At about 10:30 a.m. Monday (October 8), police were conducting checks at a home on Huina Road in Kurtistown and spotted Krause. Following a brief foot pursuit, patrol officers apprehended him. During the arrest, a 41-year-old Puna patrol officer sustained minor injuries after Krause allegedly assaulted the officer and resisted arrest.

The officer, a 6-year veteran of the Police Department, was treated and released for his injuries at Hilo Medical Center.

At about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, after conferring with prosecutors, detectives from the Area I, Criminal Investigations Section charged Krause with unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, resisting arrest and first-degree assault against a law enforcement officer. His bail was set at $22,000. He remains in the police cellblock pending his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon (October 10).