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MPD promotes six sergeants to lieutenant

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Six Maui Police Department sergeants have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

All promotions will take effect on Wednesday for:

• Lt. Nicholas Angell, who joined the department in 1997 as a police officer I in the Lahaina Patrol District. He also served in the Wailuku and Molokai patrol districts as well as spent time as a Hana school resource officer before he was promoted to sergeant in 2013 and assigned to the Lanai Patrol District. In 2017, he was assigned to the Vice Narcotics Divisions before moving to the Kihei Criminal Investigation Division, where he has served as the acting lieutenant since June. He and his wife Anela have two children.

• Lt. Kenneth Kihata, who joined the department in 2000 as a police officer I in the Wailuku Patrol District. He was transferred to Hana before returning to Wailuku to serve as a field training officer. Kihata was a member of the Special Response Team and is currently a member of the Clandestine Laboratory Response Team. In 2010, he was transferred to the Vice Division's Gambling and Morals Unit before being assigned to the Criminal Intelligence Unit in 2012. He was promoted to sergeant in 2014 and served in Kihei before becoming the supervisor for the Traffic Division's Vehicular Homicide Unit.

• Lt. Kimberly Masse, who joined the department in 2001 as a police officer I in the Wailuku Patrol District. She was transferred to Lanai and spent eight years as the school resource officer at Lanai High and Elementary School before being promoted to sergeant in 2010. She served one year in Lahaina before returning to Lanai, where she now lives with her fiance Kenneth. Masse has been acting lieutenant of the Lanai Patrol District since April.

• Lt. Grant Nakamura joined the department in 2009 as a police officer I in the Wailuku Patrol District until he was assigned to the Vice Narcotics Division in 2014. He was promoted to sergeant in 2016 and served on Molokai before being transferred to Lahaina. Nakamura has been supervisor for the Crime Reduction Unit since 2018. He coaches wrestling for Baldwin High School and Nakamura Wrestling and shares seven children with wife Nichole.

• Lt. Jeremy Pallone-De La Torre, who joined the department in 2011 as a police officer I in the Kihei Patrol District. His past assignments have included the Communications Section, Wailuku Patrol District and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Division as a juvenile investigator. In 2018 he was promoted to sergeant and served in Lahaina and later Lanai. He was most recently assigned as a detective in the Wailuku Criminal Investigation Division. Pallone-De La Torre is a certified law enforcement fitness specialist as well as a high school cross country and track and field coach at Kamehameha Schools Maui. He also volunteers for Maui Police Activities League, assists with Special Olympics Tip-a-Cop and is the coordinator for the Law Enforcement Torch Run on Maui. He and his fiance Sabrina have three children: Darius, London and Sebastian Lucky.

• Lt. Michael Vaitu'ulala, who joined the department in 2008 as a police officer I in the Wailuku Patrol District. He has worked in the Molokai Patrol District, Wailuku District Community Policing and the Criminal Intelligence Unit. In 2019, he was promoted to sergeant and served in the Communications Section, Lahaina Patrol District, Specialized Emergency Enforcement Detail and as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division. He has served as acting lieutenant commander of the Criminal Intelligence Unit since November 2021. He and his wife Savannah have four children: Kiyozo, Kainoa, Ava-Kolokiholeva and Aotea-Rose.

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