23-year-old alleged getaway driver of Big Island police shooter indicted by grand jury; bail maintained at $3 million

Silas Zion, the 23-year-old accused of driving the getaway truck after his passenger shot a Hawaiʻi Island police officer twice, made his first in-court appearance on Wednesday afternoon in Hilo District Court.

Judge Jeffrey Hawk granted the state’s request to continue the case because a grand jury had indicted Zion on Wednesday morning. He’s scheduled to return to court on April 2.

At the court appearance, members of Zion’s family showed up in support. The resident of Pāhoa is facing first-degree attempted murder, first-degree hindering prosecution, and gun and ammunition offenses. His bail remains at $3 million.

Zion said a quick goodbye to three of his family as he was ushered out by an officer with the Hawaiʻi County Sheriff Department.

Probable cause documents filed on Monday provide more detail about the shooting that resulted in one officer being flown to O’ahu with serious injuries — and a three-day manhunt that ended in Christopher Lucrisia, the alleged shooter of the officer, dying in a shootout with police on Sunday.

This is the police account of the incident in the probable cause documents.

On Friday just before 11 a.m., three officers (identified only as John Doe 1, 2, and 3) identified Lucrisia as a passenger in Zion’s white 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The 39-year-old Lucrisia was wanted on three arrest warrants, a bench warrant and “numerous be-on-the-lookout-for” bulletins for questioning.

The officers followed the truck, which parked in the lot of the First Hawaiian Bank Wāiākea Branch adjacent to the Prince Kūhio Plaza in Hilo.

Officer Doe 1, according to the documents, approached the open front window of the driver’s side of the pickup with Officer Doe 2 behind Doe 1 at the left-side rear window, which was tinted and closed. Officer Doe 3 was at the tailgate corner on the rear passenger side of the truck.

Doe 1 reportedly saw Lucrisia shoot toward him twice, hitting his right forearm and his forehead, and shattering the driver’s side rear window. Doe 1 fell to the ground. Doe 2 immediately dropped down for cover and to tend to Doe 1.

Before the gunshots, Doe 3 reportedly observes Lucrisia reaching toward the backseat from the front passenger seat before turning his body toward the driver’s side. He hears two gunshots and returns fire with three rounds through the rear passenger window at Lucrisia.

During a press conference Friday evening, Hawaiʻi Island Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said it was not known if Lucrisia had been struck by gunfire. However, police would later learn by phone photos that he had been struck multiple times in the neck and back.

After the shots were fired, the Silverado reversed and drove off “at a high rate of speed toward the west side of the plaza.” The unhurt officers stayed with the officer who was shot until medics arrived.

All three officers identified Zion as the driver of the Silverado, according to the documents. But the Hawaiʻi Police Department did not put out his identifying information until 4 p.m.

After Zion and Lucrisa fled Prince Kūhio Plaza, the department first reported that they were driving in the direction toward the Hilo International Airport. Then, police said Lucrisia was seen on foot near Manono and Leilani Streets in Hilo.

After this report, Hawaiʻi law enforcement conducted a house-to-house search for Lucrisia on Manono Street that lasted two hours. When he was not found, police announced the search widened to the entire island.

During Friday’s press conference, Moszkowicz said that officers in Puna thought they spotted Lucrisia in a dark-colored sedan headed toward Hilo and attempted a traffic stop, but the car didn’t stop, leading police on a high-speed chase.

When Puna police stopped chasing the vehicle, Hilo police continued the pursuit of the sedan, which ultimately stopped at Manono and Leilani Streets in Hilo. Two women and a man then left the car on foot before they were all arrested by police, according to a press release from the Hawaiʻi County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.

As the press conference was live at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Hawaiʻi police and U.S. Marshals officers found Zion hiding in brush at an Ihope Road residence in Mountain View — across the road from where Lucrisia died Sunday evening. Zion was arrested without incident.

According to the probable cause documents, Zion was located near the white Chevrolet Silverado, which had its license plates removed and was taken into evidence. Search warrants for the truck and Zion’s IPhone were obtained.

According to police, blood was found on the front passenger seat and seat belt, and a search turned up an empty Glock 19 case and registration to Zion for a Glock 19 9 mm pistol, live ammunition and spent bullet casings.

The search of Zionʻs phone revealed photos of Lucrisia’s injuries and bullet fragments from the Friday shooting. Data from the phone showed that the photos were taken between 11:18 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. on Friday–about 30 minutes after the officer-involved shooting–on a property located at 18-1299 N. Ihope Road in Mountain View, which is the same address of Zion’s arrest.

According to the Hawai‘i Police Department public relations specialist Denise Laitenen, Doe 1 is assigned to the undercover Vice unit, so the department expressed the desire to keep the officer’s name private even if the indictment names him.

He is expected to make a full recovery and be back to work in the coming months.