A 42-year-old Puna man is accused of assaulting three neighbors — while he was naked.
According to court documents filed by police, Robin Chun Nakapaahu, while unclothed, went to a neighboring house Tuesday afternoon and attacked a 56-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man.
Another neighbor, a 68-year-old man, told officers he was driving home in his van and saw Nakapaahu — whom he knew as “Rob” — assaulting the others. The older man allegedly drove his wife home and then returned to the scene in an attempt to help.
The man said he pulled up to the neighbors’ home and yelled, “Hey Rob, what are you doing?”
When the 30-year-old resident came up to the van, Nakapaahu reportedly ran up and punched the younger man in the head.
The van’s driver told police he told Nakapaahu to stop, but Nakapaahu reportedly replied “we are not equals,” then punched the 68-year-old man through the driver’s side window. The man then tried to drive away, documents state, but Nakapaahu held on to a roof support of the van before finally letting go.
The 68-year-old man suffered swelling to the left side of his face and sustained an inch-long horizontal laceration below his left eye, police said.
When police arrived at Nakapaahu’s home, Nakapaahu was still naked, according to the documents. He was arrested without incident.
Police say Nakapaahu requested a lawyer, and no statement was taken.
None of the three victims requested medical assistance.
Nakapaahu was charged with first-degree unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault and open lewdness.
The second-degree assault charge — which was lodged because one of the victims is older than 60 — and the unauthorized entry charge are both Class C felonies punishable by up to five years in prison, upon conviction.
At Nakapaahu’s initial hearing Wednesday, Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach denied a request for supervised release — a form of cashless bail — and maintained Nakapaahu’s bail at $25,000.
The judge also ordered Nakapaahu to return to court Friday for a preliminary hearing, but prosecutors filed an information complaint — a charging document that requires a judge to sign off on the charges and serves as probable cause to try a defendant. That complaint moves the case to Hilo Circuit Court and renders the preliminary hearing unnecessary.
Nakapaahu, who’ll be re-arrested on a bench warrant accompanying the information complaint, remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
