Honolulu Police Arrest 2 People In Deadly New Year’s Explosion

The two parents let children as young as 1 light fireworks, police said.

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The two parents let children as young as 1 light fireworks, police said.

Police have arrested two people in connection with the New Yearʻs Eve fireworks explosion in a Honolulu neighborhood that killed four and injured more than 20 others. 

Honolulu police on Friday arrested Ruben Mateo, 33, and Jewel Cabras, 33, on suspicion of reckless endangering, endangering the welfare of a minor and three other fireworks offenses. Charges have not yet been filed. 

More arrests are expected, police said.

Mateo and Cabras were attending the New Year’s Eve party at the Keaka Street home in Salt Lake where the explosion took place. They lit fireworks themselves and also allowed their children, ages 15, 10 and 1, to light fireworks, police said in a statement. 

The blackened wall of a home where a deadly, New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion took place is photographed Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Honolulu’s Salt Lake neighborhood. Multiple fatalities and injuries were reported. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Four people died and more than two dozen people were injured in the New Year’s eve explosion. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)

Police did not say whether they live in the home, but arrest records show the location of the arrest as the same address as the party — 4144 Keaka Drive. 

Detectives interviewed more than 20 witnesses, collected digital evidence and reviewed hours of surveillance video footage, according to police. The investigation is ongoing. 

The incident has sparked calls for a tougher crackdown on illegal fireworks. 

Gov. Josh Green and Attorney General Anne Lopez announced proposed legislative changes last week that would provide for harsher penalties for fireworks offenders. The new law would allow anyone charged in a fireworks incident causing serious injury or death to be charged with a class A or class B felony.

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