KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney will not handle a case involving a police officer as a person of interest in a missing drug evidence investigation within the Hawaii Police Department.

The decision to forward the case to another prosecutor’s office was made Tuesday. The Police Department forwarded the case to prosecutors March 2 for review of possible charges. After reviewing the pages-long investigation, Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth said conflicts were identified.

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“We’re referring it to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or conflicts,” Roth said.

The state Department of the Attorney General will determine which county will prosecute the case. Once that decision is made, Roth said his office will mail the report to that prosecuting agency. He said this procedure is not uncommon.

Last week, the Police Department released information that a former officer was a person of interest after drugs were found missing from evidence. The initial investigation began in October 2017. According to authorities, cocaine recovered as evidence in 2014 was found to be lighter than reported during its initial recovery.

According to a police press release, the discrepancy was discovered when the evidence was being weighed in preparation to use a small quantity of the drug for training purposes.

At the time of the investigation, the release indicates, the officer immediately was placed on administrative leave without pay. Audits of other evidence recovered by the officer revealed “other anomalies, which revealed cases whereby there was a weight discrepancy in marijuana concentrate (hashish) from two separate investigations.”

The officer has since retired from the department. Roth said he thinks the individual retired this year, but it could have been at the end of 2017. Roth didn’t know if the former employee was receiving retirement benefits.

During an interview on Hawaii Public Radio, Police Chief Paul Ferreira said the officer held the rank of detective. The former officer’s years of service were not disclosed. The officer’s identity also was not released, nor was the amount of drugs missing.

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Ferreira declined to make further statements regarding the investigation.

Email Tiffany DeMasters at tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com.