A 38-year-old Big Island mayoral candidate who admitted on Facebook to arranging a July 7 blockade of the parking lot at the Hilo Home Depot store has been arrested and charged with four offenses in connection with that incident.
Michael “Mikey” Glendon of Volcano was arrested at about 5:35 p.m. Friday at Hirano Store in Glenwood. He was charged with third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, refusing to allow ingress and egress to the parking lot and possession of a deadly weapon.
According to Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the Hawaii Police Department Hilo Criminal Investigations Section, the weapon allegedly possessed by Glendon is a lei o mano, a shark-toothed club used as a combat weapon by various Polynesian peoples, including Native Hawaiians.
The weapons charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment, upon conviction.
Glendon remained in police custody in lieu of $7,000 bail as of early Saturday afternoon. He’s scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday in Hilo District Court unless he’s able to post bail prior to the scheduled appearance.
Glendon’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Kalena Hoopii of Volcano, and Kamea-Aloha Wong, a 31-year-old Volcano man, were both arrested Thursday.
Hoopii was charged with third-degree assault and making a false statement to police, and Wong was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.
All of those charges are misdemeanors.
Both were released from custody after posting $2,000 bail each.
Glendon posted a Facebook video on July 8, in which he admitted that he, Hoopii and and others — without first calling police — used their vehicles to block vehicles from entering and exiting the parking lot. They then went through the lot to search for an alleged would-be abductor.
Police say Hoopii reported she found a zip tie on her vehicle in the home improvement store’s parking lot, which reportedly led to the blockade. Neither police nor Home Depot security saw a zip tie on Hoopii’s vehicle.
According to claims on social media, zip ties on a vehicle are a sign the vehicle’s occupant is being targeted for abduction or human trafficking. Fact-checking sites Snopes and Politifact describe the zip tie claims as a false narrative.
Police said in a statement they “cannot confirm any validity to that in this case, or any other. Reporting such fallacies may not only be illegal, but it also spreads unnecessary fear within our community.”
Hoopii reportedly told police a man, 55-year-old Angelo Valentino of Pahoa, entered her vehicle and assaulted her. Glendon said he and others detained Valentino for the police, who initially arrested Valentino and charged him with third-degree assault and second-degree unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle.
Prosecutors later dropped those charges after reviewing video made available to the store, according to Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth.
According to Roth, the video showed Valentino getting out of his car to see what was going on, knocking on the driver’s side window of Hoopii’s vehicle, opening the door to look inside, then stepping away from the car.
Police say Glendon was seen walking around the parking lot with the lei o mano. The video shows Glendon, Wong, and Hoopii assaulting Valentino, who was attempting to leave the parking lot, police said. He was initially punched in the face by Hoopii and tackled to the ground by Wong, and Glendon then approached with the shark-toothed war club and repeatedly punched Valentino about the head, face and upper body, police said.
Glendon made no mention of the lei o mano in his Facebook video, which was seen by thousands.
Roth, like Glendon, is a candidate for Hawaii County mayor, and said he couldn’t prosecute Glendon’s case because it would be a conflict of interest.
Glendon has twice in the past decade been acquitted of criminal charges by reason of mental incapacity, including for a nonfatal stabbing in 2011.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
