Department of Law Enforcement Illegal Fireworks Task Force details recent enforcement actions

Officers with the Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) Statewide Illegal Fireworks Task Force seized approximately 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks from various sources in the community in the first six months of the year.

Task Force officers confiscated approximately 200 pounds of illegal fireworks from a home in Waipahu on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Various illegal aerial fireworks were seized and the investigation is ongoing.  

On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, DLE launched SaferWatch, a web and mobile-based security system that allows the public to anonymously report illegal fireworks in the community. Over the Independence Day holiday, 59 illegal fireworks tips were submitted to DLE using the new app. The information provided from those tips is being analyzed and the Task Force will follow up on actionable information.  

Also during the Independence Day holiday, the Task Force conducted a covert operation in the Waipahu area that resulted in six people being issued criminal citations for the illegal use of aerial fireworks. These citations are for misdemeanor offenses punishable by up to one year imprisonment and fines. Task Force officers conducted surveillance of the area and caught the suspects as they were igniting the illegal fireworks. As a result of the surveillance operation, numerous homemade, multi-launch, mortar tubes capable of launching large aerial shells were confiscated. Additionally, several 1.4- and 1.3-classified illegal aerial mortar shells were also recovered in their tubes and ready to be launched. The 1.3-classified fireworks are considered “display fireworks” and should only be used by licensed fireworks industry professionals who have specialized training and years of experience. They are very dangerous and are never meant for home use by the public.    

Finally, the Task Force is also reporting its first felony prosecutions for cases that occurred in December 2023. In separate investigations, Wolfgang Clark, 21, of Waipahu, and Daniel Young, 51, of Kapolei, were arrested and released pending investigation in December 2023 for selling illegal aerial fireworks to an undercover police officer. Clark was then arrested on June 12, 2024, and Young was arrested on June 14, 2024, on an arrest warrant charging them with violating the state’s fireworks control law. These violations are Class-C felony offenses in Hawaiʻi punishable by up to five years imprisonment and fines. The Department of the Attorney General is handling the prosecution of these two cases. Both Clark and Young are presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

“I want to thank the public for continuing to assist the task force by reporting illegal fireworks users and the people who illegally distribute fireworks,” said DLE Director Jordan Lowe. “I also want to thank our law enforcement partners for their assistance and continuing work to address the illegal fireworks problem in Hawaiʻi.” 

The DLE is the coordinating agency for the Illegal Fireworks Task Force, which comprises state narcotics agents; deputy sheriffs; county police officers; the Department of the Attorney General; and federal agencies including Homeland Security Investigations; the United States Postal Investigation Service; United States Customs and Border Protection; the United States Coast Guard Investigation Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  

More information on SaferWatch can be found at www.saferwatchapp.com and is available free of charge at the Apple App Store and Google Play. Additional categories of crime visible on the app now are under development and will be available soon.