$3M bail maintained for accused getaway driver of Big Island man who reportedly shot Hawaiʻi Police Department officer

A 23-year-old Pāhoa man accused of being the getaway driver for a Mountain View man who reportedly shot a Hawaiʻi Police Department Vice officer the morning of March 14 on the Big Island made his initial appearance Monday via video in Hilo District Court.

Silas Zion owns and was identified as the driver of the white Chevy pickup truck he and 39-year-old Christopher Lucrisia were in when they fled the scene of the officer shooting in the parking lot outside First Hawaiian Bank near Prince Kūhiō Plaza in Hilo.

He faces serious charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree hindering prosecution, place to keep a pistol or revolver and place to keep ammunition.

District Court Judge Jeffrey Hawk, finding probable cause for his continued detention, maintained Zion’s bail at $3.073 million.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in Hilo District Court, at which time any motions filed in the case — including a motion to detain Zion without bail — are set to be heard.

Lucrisia was sitting on the passenger side of the Chevy pickup just before 11 a.m. March 14 when the shooting happened outside the Hilo bank as the Vice officer and several other law enforcement personnel with the Hawaiʻi Police Department, who clearly marked as police, attempted to execute an arrest warrant on him for alleged violent incidents that took place earlier during the week.

The officer who was shot, once in the right forearm and a second time in the head near the top of his skull, is a 9-year veteran of the Big Island police force.

He was initially taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center in critical condition and later flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he underwent surgery the evening of March 14.

While he continues to be in serious condition, he is stable and expected to make a full recovery.

Lucrisia led police on a 3-day manhunt that ended Sunday afternoon with his death following a shootout with police in Mountain View on the Big Island.

Zion, who was partially identified because of being the registered owner of the getaway truck, was arrested at about 6 p.m. the same day of the shooting without incident on Ihope Road in Mountain View.

Deputy Public Defender Jared Auna told Hawk during Monday’s hearing that his office had not yet determined whether it would represent Zion.

The 23-year-old, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, stood throughout his 5-minute court appearance, saying nothing.

The most serious charge the Pāhoa man faces is attempted first-degree murder, which carries a potential sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.