Gimmy Palafox Ventura (Mug shot from the Hawai’i Police Department)
Police linked DNA from an arrow shaft to a suspect accused of firing a crossbow, wounding a woman walking to her car in a beach parking lot in Hawaii last month.
Gimmy Palafox Ventura, 32, was charged with assault in the second degree following the incident on Sept. 6 in the parking lot area of Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area, the Hawai’i Police Department said in a news release.
South Kohala patrol officers responded to the lot at 7:30 that night and met with the victim, 31. She told police she had been shot just after sunset when she began walking back to her vehicle at the northern end of the main parking lot.
As she approached her vehicle, she heard what sounded like a gunshot, then realized she had suffered a large cut and was bleeding from her left bicep, police said.
She immediately left the area in her vehicle and called for medical and police help. Officers found her near Kawaihae and Akulani Road and saw an arrow lodged in her vehicle’s driver’s side rear quarter panel, authorities said. She was treated for her injuries and released.
“The length and type of arrow was determined to be consistent with arrows designed for use in crossbows,” police said in their news release.
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Police quickly identified Ventura as a person of interest, linking him through DNA from an arrow lodged in the victim’s vehicle and sent for analysis to the Honolulu Police Department Scientific Investigation Section.
Detectives said they executed search warrants on Wednesday on Ventura’s residence and 2023 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck at the 4500 block of Ohia Street in Honoka’a, officials said.
A search uncovered two arrows in Ventura’s bedroom and a crossbow, six arrows, arrow tips and fletching from his truck, police said.
Bail was set at $2,000. He was out of custody on supervised release with orders to stay away from the victim and the beach where the crime occurred. His preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 2, online court records show.
A motive and if or how the suspect and victim know each other is unclear.
His public defender did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Saturday from Law&Crime.
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