A 38-year-old Hilo woman is accused of choking her 4-year-old daughter and assaulting an elderly woman who attempted to intervene.
Alicia Jean Nakamura is charged with felony child abuse, second-degree assault, misdemeanor child abuse and methamphetamine possession for the incident, which occurred late Friday night in Kurtistown, police said.
The reporting party, a 74-year-old woman, told officers that at about 11:30 p.m. Friday she heard a woman and girl screaming outside her North Ala Road home, according to court documents filed by police.
When the woman went outside, she reportedly saw the 4-year-old standing alone in the middle of the roadway, and when she approached the girl, the child ran into her arms.
The child allegedly told the elderly woman her mother had hurt her. The woman saw the child’s mother standing in the roadway about 30 to 40 yards away and approached her, the documents state.
The elderly woman asked Nakamura if everything was OK, to which Nakamura allegedly replied, ‘I’m gonna get you, you bitch.”
A physical altercation ensued, and Nakamura left with the child.
The elderly woman then called police, the documents state, and a second caller reportedly told dispatchers they had picked up Nakamura and the child to give them a ride, but Nakamura became belligerent. A third caller then told dispatchers Nakamura and the child were lying in a grassy area and the child was shivering, documents state.
Police found Nakamura and the child lying in wet grass off Highway 11 about three miles away from the original scene. The child told officers her mother had choked her, and Nakamura was arrested while the child was taken into protective custody.
The girl reportedly had scratching, red marks and bruising on her face, chest, neck and knees.
Documents state the elderly woman had a laceration on her left forearm and redness on her neck and face.
A search by officers turned up a plastic bag with 3.3 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to documents.
At Nakamura’s initial court appearance on Monday, Deputy Public Defender Jauwon Barron requested that Nakamura be freed on supervised release — a form of cashless bail — or that her bail be reduced, and Deputy Prosecutor Herbert Mukai objected.
Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk maintained Nakamura’s bail at $32,000 and ordered her to return Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Three of the charges are Class C felonies that carry a potential five-year prison term.
Nakamura has one previous felony conviction, for third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
