Hitchhiking gone sour - UPDATED!

[Kapoho Joe]

Sorry HOTPE, but if it (almost) bleeds - it leads!

[Pilgrim]

So this loser was at it again last night. Apparently he was picked up by a tourist off 130 headed to the lava viewing area. He pulled a knife but the guy was smart (and pretty brave) and started laying on his horn and flashing lights as he approached the lava parking. The loser guy freaked out and bailed just before the parking area and ran into the bushes. Cops were called & responded but I couldn't find anything in the papers. The jerk apparently shaved his beard etc so look out for a shave face version of the newspaper photo.

[alaskyn66]

Not sure why they can't catch this guy.... considering he doesn't seem to leave the area.

[Guest]

hitchhiker arrested.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2017/0...-arrested/

hopefully we won't have to worry about this guy for awhile.

[randomq]

Thanks Gypsy. I hope that guy does some hard time for returning kindness with violence.

[Kenney]

Good news. Mahalo G69.

[Midnight Rambler]

Man, it sucks to hear about so many bad experiences with hitchhikers. I couldn't drive for medical reasons most of the time I lived in Puna, and relied on hitchhiking to get down and get food in Hilo since the bus didn't run on Saturday then. If I was trying to live like that now I'd probably have a hard time.

[Kenney]

No worry Midnigh Rambler. You'd be ok. Hitchhiking still happens here.

[VancouverIslander]

I've never had a problem with hitchhikers. Sure, one or two have been a bit dodgy smelling, but it's nothing that rolling down the window couldn't fix. I met some really interesting people picking up hitchers.

Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike

[TomK]

There was another hitchhiking incident last Friday:

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5892301/?sub_id=344108

"A victim reported that on Friday (March 31), at approximately 8:00 p.m., while traveling eastbound on Mauna Kea Beach Drive in the Waikoloa area, he picked up a male hitchhiker. Once inside the victim’s vehicle, the hitchhiker brandished a weapon, demanded to be driven to an undisclosed location, and assaulted the victim causing him to sustain minor injuries. During this incident, the victim overtook a vehicle and quickly stopped and then exited his vehicle in an attempt to seek help. The victim’s vehicle rolled backwards and struck the front portion of the vehicle he had just passed. The victim then re-entered the driver’s seat of his vehicle, with the male suspect still inside, and continued driving eastbound on Mauna Kea Beach Drive and then southbound on Queen Ka#699;ahumanu Highway."

This one's a bit odd though. Why get back in the car with your kidnapper?