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Just after 8.30 the evening of Aug. 19, a Department of Law Enforcement officer watched a man walk into the middle of Kaiwiula Street in Honolulu and light a fuse. 

An illegal firework shot 40 feet into the air and exploded. “Sorry officer, this is my last one,” the man told the cop, before giving his name. 

Despite being caught in the act, he never faced consequences; the case was dropped. A review of the last two years of data from the state judiciary shows that is the typical outcome for fireworks offenses.

Civil Beat’s analysis found 50 firework citations issued on Oʻahu in the last two years, about half the annual average of the previous five years.

The result of those 50 citations? Two felony convictions and two misdemeanor pleas — even with a special state Department of Law Enforcement illegal fireworks task force focused on disrupting distribution and targeting users.

In the wake of a massive explosion in a dense residential area that has killed four people and injured more than 20, lawmakers and residents are again questioning how well �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� enforces its ban on non-public firework displays.

Court data analyzed by Civil Beat suggests that criminal statutes that define the act of setting off illegal fireworks contribute to the enforcement problems. New proposed legislation, announced Monday, is designed to make it easier for prosecutors to convict those charged with fireworks-related crimes. 

Speaking at a news conference Monday, Gov. Josh Green said legal definitions have made it extremely difficult for prosecutors to get convictions. 

“We need to make it more straightforward,” Green said. “When an aerial goes up, there’s no question about it.”

�Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� Attorney General Anne Lopez said current state law requires an expert witness or forensic evidence to establish that pyrotechnics were used. The new proposed law would remove this requirement, and provide for harsher penalties. 

For example, anyone involved in a fireworks incident that causes serious bodily injury or death could be charged with a class A or class B felony — classifications that currently include crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape and can carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Repeat fireworks offenders also would be subject to harsher prison sentences. 

Although no charges have been filed in the deadly fireworks incident on New Year’s Eve, those responsible for lighting, purchasing, selling or importing the fireworks involved could still be charged with a felony under existing laws, according to Deputy Attorney General Tricia Nakamatsu.

In addition to targeting the most serious offenses, the state is proposing a crackdown on those who buy and use small amounts of fireworks, eliminating the need to build a criminal case. Police could slap low-level offenders with tickets that could carry a fine of $300.

The recent fatalities also have motivated Honolulu lawmakers including council members Esther Kiaʻāina and Val Okimoto to introduce a bill to keep Honolulu County fireworks law in step with state regulations.

Legislative Changes Long Overdue

The measures announced Monday would be a substantive and long-overdue change as enforcement of illegal fireworks in �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� to date has largely failed, according to a .

In a 2023 investigation, Civil Beat found that between 2018 and 2022, 94% of the citations on Oʻahu ended in dismissal or dropped prosecutions. The 15 successful cases over that period generated only $1,000 in fines. 

Since then, in 2023 and 2024, 12 charges brought on Oʻahu were dismissed without prejudice by prosecutors, meaning they could technically be prosecuted in the future, although — based on the earlier data — that outcome is unlikely. An equal number were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can’t be prosecuted. 

Another 10 prosecutions, including the firework shot into the air on Kaiwiula Street, were dropped altogether; three resulted in no-contest pleas. The poor prosecution rate has long been cited as the reason the illegal fireworks problem has gone largely unchecked.

The measures announced Monday would help address issues that county prosecutors have told legislative researchers “routinely create roadblocks to effective prosecution.”

No matter how well law enforcement documents an incident, after the fireworks go off, “the current definition in our statutes only applies to unexploded fireworks,” special counsel Christine Denton with the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney said last week. 

“Once that firework is blown up, that evidence is no longer available for us to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Denton said. “In the event that we are able to take a case to trial, under the current definition, we would be required to bring in an expert to testify in order to meet our burden of proof.”

A law signed in 2019 by then-Gov. David Ige went part of the way in addressing that prosecutorial burden. It eliminated the need for proof of actual possession, and made homeowners liable if anyone on their property were to "possess, set off, ignite, or otherwise cause to explode any aerial device,” based on the weight of the fireworks. 

The bill also broadened the scope of admissible evidence to include video and drone footage. So far however, that’s had little effect.    

The two successful felony prosecutions brought by the task force were prosecuted by the Attorney General. Wolfgang Clark of Waipahu and Daniel C. Young of Kapolei pleaded no contest to charges of felony illegal distribution of aerial fireworks. They face up to five years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines. Attempts to reach the men were unsuccessful. 

That case resulted from the seizure of 200 pounds of illegal fireworks from a house in Waipahu, Department of Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe said last July. 

Other details of the cases are currently sealed. The Attorney General's Department did not respond to a request for comment on the disposition of the case.

Another two defendants have taken pleas to misdemeanor charges that will be resolved in District Court, Lowe said. 

No one has been arrested yet in connection with the deadly New Year’s Eve incident in Salt Lake, but Green said on Monday he would like to see charges filed.

Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said detectives are still investigating, and he asked the public to come forward with information, including videos, pictures or eyewitness accounts. Police want to identify anyone who played a role in the incident, including the person who lit the fireworks, those who purchased them and those who imported and sold them.

Millions Of Firecrackers Legally Permitted Each Year

Lowe said the state needs to fund a new fireworks and explosives laboratory and an requiring six new investigator positions and support staff operating full time.

The Department of Law Enforcement also wants to replace the existing system for issuing legal firecracker permits and legal fireworks licenses, now maintained by county fire departments, with a unified statewide program. In its final task force report to the Legislature, the department said the “unanimous support for tracking lawful fireworks permitting for those in industry and for ultimate users” at the State Fire Council, which is made up of the state's county fire chiefs. 

Data reported by the county departments for 2023 show the extent of legal fireworks use, outside the banned aerial displays.

Together, county governments raised more than $590,000 selling legal firecracker permits and fireworks licenses in 2023, according to reports filed with the state Legislature. Honolulu issued the largest number, 56 firework licenses at $500 to $3,000 apiece, for legal importation, storage, wholesale and retail sales. Along with firecracker permits, that brought in $411,000 of the total.

And 19,275 firecracker permits were sold statewide — the equivalent of one for every 25 households. Each permit allows the purchase up to 5,000 firecrackers, which meant over 96 million potential legal firecrackers.