Update:
Press Release
Assault with a deadly weapon against a Peace Officer
On 8/20/23 at about 1833 hours, a Deputy with the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling the Janesville
area. The Deputy observed a vehicle on the east bound shoulder of the roadway on Lakecrest Drive, behind
the Honey Lake Rest Area.
The Deputy noticed that there were no license plates affixed to the rear of the vehicle and that there looked
to be numbers, written with a marker, in the area of where the license plate should be.
The Deputy stopped behind the vehicle. A male adult exited the passenger side of the vehicle. The Deputy
told the male that he was there to check on his well-being. The male stated that he had ran out of gas. The
Deputy inquired about the license and registration requirements with the male subject. The male
immediately became irate and told the Deputy that he had “no jurisdiction” over him.
The male picked up a rock and made a motion as if he was going to throw the rock at the Deputy. The Deputy
retreated to a position of cover. The male opened the passenger side door to his vehicle and retrieved a
sword. The sword was in a sheath. The male walked towards the Deputy in an aggressive manner, holding the
sword out in front of him.
The Deputy began to retreat in order to gain distance from the subject, while ordering him to drop the
weapon. The male subject picked up several rocks and threw them at the Deputy. The Deputy was struck 2-3
times from large rocks. The male continued to yell obscenities and advance on the Deputy.
The Deputy continued to give orders for the suspect to drop his weapon and warned the suspect that he
would use lethal force. The suspect ignored the Deputy’s commands. The Deputy deployed his taser, striking
the male in the upper body. The male fell to the ground but was able to remove the taser prongs from his
person. The taser had little effect on the male.
Once the male was on the ground, he removed the sword from the sheath. The Deputy dropped his taser in
the roadway and transitioned to his duty pistol. The Deputy continued to give warnings that lethal force
would be used if the male subject did not drop his weapon.
The Deputy continued to retreat to gain distance and had to yell for bystanders to clear out of the area. While
doing so, the male subject retrieved the Deputy’s taser from the roadway. The taser had no active cartridges.
The Deputy elected not to use lethal force based on concern of public safety, due to the backdrop and number
of bystanders in the area.
The Deputy advanced on the male and was able to deploy pepper spray towards the male, striking him in the
upper body and facial areas. The male subject retreated and jumped a barbed wire fence and began running
north bound through fields, towards Honey Lake.
Several Deputies from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene as well as Officers from the
California Highway Patrol (CHP), a CHP helicopter, and a K9 Officer from the Susanville Police Department
(SPD).
The male continued running in the North bound direction, while armed with the sword and Deputy’s taser.
Deputies put a plan together to set up a perimeter around the male. Deputies located the male subject, who
had now dropped the sword and taser. The male began running on foot away from the Deputies. After a
lengthy foot pursuit, Deputies were and to apprehend and arrest the male subject without any further
incident. The male subject provided several false names to Deputies.
The male subject was later identified as Keoni K. Kalanui-Manantan, 31, of Hawaii. Kalanui-Manantan has an
extensive criminal history out of Hawaii. He was booked into the Lassen County Jail on the following charges:
245(c) PC- Assault with a deadly weapon on a Peace Officer.
244.5(c) PC- Assault peace officer with a less lethal object
148(b) PC- Remove or take away weapon from a peace officer
69 PC- Resist a public officer- aggravated.
148.9 PC- Provide false information to a peace officer.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the California Highway Patrol and the Susanville Police
Department for their response and assistance in this case.
Captain Mike Carney
Lassen County Sheriff’s Office
August 21, 2023
A sword-wielding individual is suspected of being involved in an altercation with Lassen County Deputies Sunday afternoon. According to witnesses, the incident took place near Lakecrest drive in Janesville. After becoming hostile, deputies initially tased the man, but he managed to flee on foot. Deputies gave chase and eventually apprehended him.
According to arrest records on Sunday, Keoni Kalanui, a 19-year-old, was taken into custody for multiple felony charges. These include assault with a Deadly Weapon that was not a firearm, resisting and assaulting a peace officer, and attempting to take a weapon from a peace officer that was not a firearm.
Kalanui is being held in County jail and held without bail.
The Lassen county sheriff’s Office has been contacted to confirm the details of this incident.
