Known for his propensity for Nissan 300ZXs and Hondas, he was arrested Saturday in a parking lot at 825 Keeaumoku St. He was arraigned this morning in District Court.
It was his first appearance as an adult - but Kahale-Sugimura is no stranger to the criminal justice system.
Police say he is a classic example of a repeat juvenile offender who falls through the cracks of a criminal justice system that is lenient on youths who commit adult crimes.
"The system failed the juvenile," said Lt. Allan Anami, head of the auto theft detail. "He didn't suffer sanctions for his actions and made it more opportunistic for him to continue his behavior. This is a case where we do arrest and we do charge, but the system is failing. People have got to realize the system has got to be revamped."
Kahale-Sugimura has long been a thorn in the side of police. Details of juvenile criminal records are confidential but his history is considered worse than the nearly dozen adults suspected in numerous auto thefts islandwide put together.
A Family Court judge later this week will decide if Kahale-Sugimura should be tried as an adult in at least 10 other pending cases of crimes he is suspected of committing as a juvenile - a majority of them auto thefts. If the court waives jurisdiction over him, his juvenile records would be opened up.
"By the time he goes to adult court, he's got so many felonies stacked against him," Anami said. "If he was treated as an adult while he was a juvenile, they may have been able to steer him to rehabilitation. The system let him down. He probably would've gotten more help as an adult."
Three days before he turned 18, on April 1, he was again arrested and was charged because he was classified as a serious juvenile offender. The Family Court can keep juvenile offenders locked up until they are 19, but in his case they didn't. He stayed for three days at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility before he was released, police said.
In the past, the Family Court released him to the supervision of his parents, who despite their best efforts, have been unable to control him, police said. He has admitted to being a user of crystal methamphetamine and steals to supply his habit, police said.
He was arrested for the first time as an adult several days later for misdemeanor reckless endangering. He stayed overnight in a police cell-block before he was released on his own recognizance.
Since he turned adult, Kahale-Sugimura is also suspected in at least five auto thefts - four of them since April 14, police say.
On Saturday, officers stopped to investigate when they spotted a man, later identified as Kahale-Sugimura, asleep in a parked 1990 Honda with the lights on and the engine running. A check of the car's plates revealed it had been reported stolen, police said.
Recovered from the car was $11,000 worth of U.S. savings bonds that later was found to have been taken in a burglary at an Oahu Avenue home.
He was also booked for eight counts of possession of stolen property, two narcotics offenses and an outstanding warrant.