HILO — A Pahoa woman who grazed a police officer with a Toyota sedan has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Rina Shimizu, 29, pleaded guilty in July to second-degree attempted promotion of a dangerous drug, second-degree reckless endangering and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. The original list of charges included first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and first-degree assault on a police officer.
"You put people at risk," Circuit Judge Glenn Hara told Shimizu yesterday. "I believe that a danger to the community exists as long as you are in the community."
Shimizu, a repeat offender, will have to serve a minimum of three years and four months before she will be eligible for parole. Her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Melody Parker, argued for a 10-year term with a minimum sentence of 20 months, while Deputy Prosecutor Jason Skier touted the lengthier term.
On May 1, 2008, Shimizu was in her car at Kahakai Boulevard and Moana Street in Hawaiian Beaches when officers involved in a sting operation attempted to serve a warrant to search the Toyota. Shimizu drove at one officer, Detective Rio Amon-Wilkins, who eluded the car. Officer Peter Fernandez was grazed by car, causing abrasions to an arm.
Police fired shots into the car, but neither Shimizu nor her passenger, 31-year-old Peleaulani Mahi, were injured.
Police had earlier delivered a Federal Express package to Shimizu that an investigator had intercepted April 30 in Honolulu. The package originally contained nearly 10 ounces of cocaine, which was replaced with a flour and candy mixture made to resemble the drug, police said.
A surveillance team stood by a short distance away as an officer allegedly delivered the parcel to Shimizu. Inside the package was a device that would alert police when the package was opened, as well as a powder that could be detected on the suspect's fingers under a special light. The package, however, was never opened.
At around 7:25 that evening, as officers attempted to stop the car and serve the warrant, Shimizu fled. The Toyota was found abandoned about a mile away.
Shimizu was discovered shortly thereafter hiding in bushes off Alamihi Street. Police arrested her on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, and later reduced the charge to first-degree assault on a police officer.
Mahi was arrested the following morning at the Keaau Shopping Center on suspicion of promoting a dangerous drug. She was not prosecuted.
Parker, noting that Shimizu needs extensive drug treatment, said Shimizu "realizes that she panicked" when she drove through the roadblock and clipped Fernandez. She said police did not need to draw their guns and fire into Shimizu's car.
"The police overreacted to this as if it was an intensive murder situation, and that could not be further from the truth," Parker argued.
Parker said that Shimizu, whose first brush with the criminal justice system happened at age 11 and who has only an eighth-grade education, deserves "an opportunity to free herself from this ball and chain of drugs that have been the hallmark of her existence."
Skier argued that there have been "periods of sobriety" in Shimizu's life, "but she has chosen to return to the culture of illegal drugs."
"She was willing to risk the safety of the police officers and the safety of the public so she could get high," Skier said. " ... I have no problem with the defendant getting drug treatment while she's in prison and that's what's going to happen."
Hara noted during sentencing that Shimizu's mother and sister are both incarcerated.
"Miss Shimizu, when does the light come on?" Hara said. " ... Look at all the people you've associated with, look at what happened to all the people you shared drugs with, and look all the people you distributed drugs to.
"All you did is share your misery with them."