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Man indicted in alleged Harbor Lights sex assault

MICHAEL SORIANO – Held on $1 million bail

WAILUKU — A man who was arrested after he barricaded himself in a Harbor Lights Condominium unit last week is being held in lieu of $1 million bail after he was indicted on charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault and kidnapping.

Michael Soriano, 49, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in 2nd Circuit Court to seven counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of abuse.

The crimes occurred between Jan. 19 and Feb. 11, according to the indictment.

Police officers went to the Kahului complex at about 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 after a woman called to ask if officers could stand by while she retrieved her personal items from the apartment, acting Assistant Chief Clyde Holokai said at a Maui Police Commission meeting Wednesday.

Officers met with the woman, who reported Soriano had assaulted her in her apartment and remained inside, police said. Officers tried to enter the apartment, but Soriano refused to let them in and barricaded the door, police said.

Holokai said the investigation showed that Soriano “had not only beaten her but had sexually assaulted her over the course of several days.”

Patrol officers “did an excellent job trying to talk him out,” Holokai said, before the police Special Response Team and hostage negotiators were called to the scene.

Building on the work patrol officers had done, lead negotiator Sgt. Nick Krau talked the suspect out of the apartment at about 7 a.m. Feb. 12, Holokai said. “He did an excellent job,” Holokai said.

He said patrol officers evacuated nearby units as a precaution before Soriano left the apartment without incident and was arrested.

Because the apartment was on the side of the property bordering the University of Hawaii Maui College, campus officials received an alert about the barricade situation and decided to lock down the campus as a precaution, said acting Assistant Chief Gregg Okamoto. He said campus officials mistakenly sent out an alert that there was an active shooter, which there wasn’t.

Soriano is being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center, with a bail hearing set Tuesday. According to the indictment, Soriano could face extended sentencing as a multiple offender if he is convicted of the sexual assault and kidnapping charges.

According to court records, Soriano was sentenced to a 20-year prison term in 1992 for first-degree sexual assault.

In court Wednesday, Soriano was ordered to have no contact with the victim and to stay away from the Harbor Lights complex.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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