By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Prosecutors have filed charges against a 62-year-old Hilo man, accusing him of habitual drunken driving for the third time within a decade.
Byron Mitsuo Miyashiro, described in the complaint as a “habitual operator of a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant,” was charged Tuesday with habitual DUI, reckless driving, driving after his license had been suspended or revoked for DUI, and driving without insurance.
Habitual DUI means the person charged has been convicted of DUI twice or more within the previous 10 years.
The complaint said the alleged offenses occurred on Dec. 21 in South Hilo. Neither the specific location of arrest nor Miyashiro’s blood-alcohol content were contained in publicly available documents.
In August 2016, Miyashiro filed a lawsuit against the Department of Public Safety, then-DPS Director Nolan Espinda, former DPS Deputy Director Alan Asato and then-Hawaii Community Correctional Center Warden Peter Cabreros.
In the suit, Miyashiro accused authorities of keeping him locked up in the Hilo jail for more than two months beyond his scheduled release date.
Miyashiro was sentenced Feb. 18, 2014, to four years of probation and a year in jail for his second habitual DUI conviction within a year.
Then-Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara, now retired, also reset the clock on Miyashiro’s previous five-year probation term for habitual DUI. Miyashiro was given credit for time served and was supposed to have been released Nov. 29, 2014, according to court records.
He wasn’t released by the jail, however, until Jan. 13, 2015, 65 days beyond his scheduled release date.
The lawsuit, which originally sought at least $40,000 in damages, said Miyashiro worked in the kitchen during the 65-day period and “was subjected to daily strip searches after the end of his kitchen duties.”
Miyashiro and the state settled the suit in 2017 for $10,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.