Three men were arrested and charged with numerous offenses following an apparent drunken brawl in which at least one man was stabbed Saturday night in Captain Cook.
Those charged were Axeen Adrian Chavez, 35, of Captain Cook; Daniel Jacobo-Cortes, 28, of Kealakekua; and Enrique Guardado-Garcia, 41, of Kailua-Kona. All were charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, two counts of kidnapping and three counts of second-degree assault.
The most serious charge, kidnapping, is a Class A felony that carries a maximum prison term of 20 years upon conviction.
The other offenses are Class C felonies, and convictions carry a potential five-year prison sentence.
According to court documents filed by police, the two victims, both men of Honduran descent, reported they had been drinking alcoholic beverages at a Mamalahoa Highway residence in Captain Cook with Chavez, Jacobo-Cortes and Guardado-Garcia, who are of Mexican descent.
The reporting parties told police the others began to make fun of them, telling them that Mexicans are better than Hondurans, and a physical fight ensued.
One of the victims said Guardado-Garcia and Jacobo-Cortes both yelled they were going to kill him and shouted racial slurs while holding him on the ground and punching and kicking him, the documents state,
The victim also suffered a machete puncture wound in the abdomen, according to police. Meanwhile, Chavez reportedly restrained the other victim with a headlock.
The victim who had been held down and assaulted managed to escape to a neighboring residence to seek help, while Jacobo-Cortes and Chavez allegedly took turns scraping the man who had been headlocked with a machete along the neck.
The man who suffered the machete puncture was treated and released at Kona Community Hospital. The other man had visible scrapes along his neck but wasn’t seriously hurt.
The three alleged assailants were later arrested at another residence.
Chavez and Guardado-Garcia made their initial appearances Tuesday in Kona District Court, where Judge David Harada-Stone maintained their bail at $28,000 each and ordered them to return Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
There is no record of a court appearance by Jacobo-Cortes, indicating he likely posted bail and was released from custody.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
