Judge lowers bail of alleged get-away driver

PROVO — A woman named by her cohorts as the get-away driver never entered the house where police say her friends attacked sleeping men with a baseball bat,

That's why the attorney for Berniece Halalilo, 18, asked for reduced bail Monday in 4th District Court.

"We agreed to stipulate on our written motion to reduce bail," said defense attorney Mike Petro, referring to his discussions with prosecutors. "She has a different extent of culpability."

Halalilo is now being held in the Utah County Jail on $50,000 cash or bond bail, not the original $250,000 cash-only bail.

Halalilo, her boyfriend, Jacob Falo, 19, as well as his brother, James Falo, 18, and another juvenile, were arrested Oct. 9 after a nearly four-hour standoff with police in an Orem apartment at 115 W. 675 North.

Police surrounded the home that afternoon, looking for suspects they believed had been involved in a home-invasion robbery that morning around 2 a.m. Police say the Falos and the juvenile, armed with a gun and a baseball bat, entered a home near 1000 East and 800 North and proceeded to attack the residents.

One 19-year-old man who fought back was hit several times in the back and required medical attention at the hospital, said Orem Police Lt. Doug Edwards.

The men stole electronics, money and entertainment systems and threatened to kill the residents if they called police, according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court.

Thanks to the description given by the victims, officers tracked the group to the standoff apartment and were finally able to persuade them to surrender.

After the arrests, police say Jacob Falo told officers his group had targeted the house because he had previously purchased drugs there and believed there would be drugs and money there. Police are still investigating those claims.

The group was charged Friday with 11 felonies, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Jacob Falo is also charged with possessing a firearm as a restricted person. He was on parole out of Salt Lake City due to a parole violation from an aggravated robbery conviction.

The group will be in court again Oct. 27.

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