WAILUKU - A 39-year-old Lahaina man was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for an incident last year where he crashed a truck into a home under construction and held a box cutter to the throat of a pedestrian who was trying to help him after the crash.
In sentencing Rogelio Rodriguez, 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August also recommended that if the parole board is contacted by immigration services, the board should release Rodriguez as soon as possible so he can be deported to his home country of Mexico.
In accordance with a plea agreement, Rodriguez pleaded no contest to second-degree assault, first-degree terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, inattention to driving and driving under the influence. Charges of kidnapping and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle were dismissed in the agreement.
Through a Spanish interpreter, Rodriguez apologized to the court and also to the victims and their families and asked for mercy from the court.
"I regret very much everything that I have done. I want to do the best to be better," he said.
Police said they needed to shock Rodriguez multiple times with a Taser stun gun to subdue him during the Aug. 23 incident.
Police said Rodriguez lost control of his tan pickup truck while driving on Prison Street in Lahaina and ended up in the front yard of a house under construction.
An 18-year-old man who was walking nearby heard someone yelling and tried to help Rodriguez. But when the man told Rodriguez he was going to call 911, Rodriguez lunged at him and put him in a headlock and dragged him to the back of the truck, police said.
Police said the victim told them that Rodriguez held a box cutter against his neck. The man suffered a 2-inch laceration on his neck and a laceration to his left thumb before managing to get away.
The homeowner, who was driving toward the house, saw Rodriguez, who approached the front passenger window of the car.
He then reached in with both hands, trying to grab the legs of the front-seat passenger, a 36-year-old woman. The homeowner reversed the car to get away.
Deputy Public Defender Greg Ball said Rodriguez told him that he had alcohol in his system during the incident.
Ball thanked the victims in the case, who did not ask for a longer prison sentence.
In addition to the prison term, August suspended Rodriguez's driver's license for one year. He was also ordered to pay fines and fees of $262. Rodriguez was also sentenced to lesser jail terms for the lesser charges in the case. All will be served concurrently.
Rodriguez has been involved in the criminal justice system in Hawaii and California for the past 15 years, according to court records.
