Big Island police search Fern Acres property for armed wanted man

Hawaii Island police are still asking anyone who spots Jason Anthony Magdaleno to contact detectives immediately. The 41-year-old is considered armed and dangerous, wanted on two outstanding arrest warrants with bail totaling $10,000, and was last believed to be at a Plumeria Street property in Fern Acres.

That tip set off a search warrant operation Friday morning, May 1, when members of the Area I Criminal Investigation Division, Vice Division and Special Response Team swept the residence and surrounding property. Magdaleno was not found. As a precaution, police closed Plumeria Street between Orchid and Gardenia streets while the search was underway, then reopened the road at 7 p.m. later that day.

The case carries immediate public-safety consequences for Fern Acres and the wider Puna area. Police have said Magdaleno is armed and dangerous, a warning that changes how neighbors, delivery drivers, and anyone traveling the narrow roads of the district should move through the area until the search is resolved. In rural parts of Hawaii Island, where homes can sit far from main highways and response times can stretch, a wanted-person search like this can quickly affect daily routines, from commuting and school drop-offs to workers checking properties and businesses opening and closing for the day.

The outstanding warrants are for summons and or arrest on probation. Under Hawaii law, anyone who knowingly helps a suspect avoid arrest can face first-degree hindering prosecution if they render assistance with the intent to hinder apprehension, prosecution, conviction or punishment in a case involving a class A, B or C felony or murder. Legislative materials describe that offense as a class C felony, making it a serious charge in its own right.

Police are still seeking help from the public as the search continues. Anyone with information on Magdaleno’s location can call the police non-emergency line, contact Detective Bryson Pilor, or reach Crime Stoppers.

Plumeria Street in Fern Acres has also surfaced in earlier major police work in Puna, including a prior armed-and-dangerous murder investigation that brought detectives to another residence nearby. That history underscores how quickly a quiet road in this district can become the center of a high-risk operation, and why police are treating this search as an active community safety issue until Magdaleno is located.