From Hawaii Police Department:
A 64-year-old Glenwood man is in police custody following a standoff in Puna that closed a Fern Forrest road overnight for the safety of area residents.
Puna patrol officers responded to a 10:22 a.m. report Monday (August 20) that a man had threatened his neighbors with a machete on Kokokahi Road in the Fern Forrest subdivision in Glenwood.
When police arrived, the suspect barricaded himself inside his house and claimed he had a large machine gun. Officers could hear a large object banging the inside of the door.
The Police Department’s Special Response Team was called to the scene and negotiated all night with the suspect. After hours of negotiation, the suspect emerged from the house shortly before 5 a.m. and a confrontation ensued.
A Special Response Team officer received minor injuries when a stairway he was standing on collapsed.
Dasa Sivam was arrested on suspicion of terroristic threatening and is being held at the Hilo police cellblock while detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Section continue the investigation.
For the protection of the public, Kokokahi Road was blocked to traffic from 1 p.m. Monday until nearly 5 a.m. Tuesday.
