WAILUKU - Two men are facing robbery and assault charges for an attack at a Maalaea park this month that injured a 50-year-old man.
During a preliminary hearing Thursday in Wailuku District Court, Kahului residents Kodah Kalawe-English, 21, and Kevin Lifoifoi, 26, were identified as two of the three males involved in the confrontation ending in the early-morning hours of Nov. 6 at Haycraft Park.
Jerome Metcalfe testified he suffered three broken ribs and a broken right finger after being kicked and hit by the three.
Metcalfe said he and his brother, Scott, had gone to the park before midnight Nov. 5 to look at the waves. They were leaving when they were approached by males asking if they wanted to buy "weed," Jerome Metcalfe said.
His brother was approached first but pushed the males away and ran to his car.
One man asked Jerome Metcalfe if he had money. "I said, 'I don't have any money,' and he went ballistic," Metcalfe testified.
A male reached into Metcalfe's shorts pocket, which was torn along with his aloha shirt, Metcalfe said. He said his glasses and sandals were knocked off as he was called derogatory names including "haole."
Metcalfe, who lives in Wisconsin, said he has been on Maui to work as a consultant to the family-owned Ale House Restaurant and Sports Bar in Kahului.
He said all three males were attacking him, with one putting him in a headlock, another grabbing his leg and a third delivering a "punt kick into my head" at one point, Metcalfe said. He said Lifoifoi used his arms and legs in karate-type positions.
The males became angrier after one managed to grab Metcalfe's BlackBerry phone from a pocket along with two $50 bills, a $20 bill and a $5 bill, Metcalfe said. One of the males grabbed the money. "That was the big prize for the night besides beating the hell out of me," Metcalfe said.
At one point, he described seeing one man hold an object about 6 inches long above him.
After telling a police officer he saw a wooden handle and either a .45-caliber or .38-caliber gun, Metcalfe said in court that he couldn't be sure it was a gun.
"I told the officer I thought it was a gun," he said. "I can't honestly tell you it was a gun. I was scared.
"I think I seen wood, but I had blood running into my eyes."
He said the object could have been a bottle or cane.
A fourth male was near a vehicle screaming at the others to leave, Metcalfe said.
He said his brother, Scott, returned, with the back window of his car shattered, and police responded to the park.
The males had left, but Scott Metcalfe provided the license plate number of the vehicle they were in, leading to the arrests of Kalawe-English and Lifoifoi this week. Police said two teenage boys also were located and questioned, with one released and the other detained pending a Family Court hearing next week.
The two adults were originally charged with first-degree robbery, based on Metcalfe's report that he saw a gun. But Deputy Public Defender Greg Ball, representing Kalawe-English, said it was "an impossible charge" based on Metcalfe's testimony.
Judge Simone C. Polak said there was enough evidence to support a lesser charge of second-degree robbery, as well as second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal property damage, against the defendants.
She reduced bail to $20,000 each for Kalawe-English, a lifetime Molokai resident before moving to Maui about six months ago, and Lifoifoi. Both men are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 1 in 2nd Circuit Court.
They were ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to abide by an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew if released on bail. Both also were ordered to stay away from the Ale House and Haycraft Park.
