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Hearing delayed for man charged with attempted murder, assault on officer

Lapenia-Lau

WAILUKU — With the defendant in quarantine at the Maui Community Correctional Center, a preliminary hearing was delayed until next week for a man charged with attempted murder for allegedly driving toward a police officer in Wailuku.

Kaipo Lapenia-Lau, 25, of Kahului appeared by videoconference from the Wailuku jail for a hearing Tuesday in Wailuku District Court. He said he would be out of quarantine today.

Lapenia-Lau wanted to appear in person for his preliminary hearing as long as it could be held within a week, said Deputy Public Defender Ben Lowenthal.

Judge Kirstin Hamman set the hearing for March 9.

In addition to first-degree attempted murder, Lapenia-Lau is charged with first-degree attempted assault on a law enforcement officer, two counts of first-degree resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle and first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer.

Lapenia-Lau was arrested Feb. 23 after he nearly ran over a police officer when officers approached his stopped vehicle at 9:05 a.m. near Mill Street, police said. When Lapenia-Lau’s vehicle accelerated toward the officer, he and another officer fired their police guns at the vehicle, police said.

Lapenia-Lau wasn’t struck by the shots, according to police.

With police in pursuit, he fled to a residence off Kahekili Highway in Waihee, where he was arrested, police said.

Authorities had been looking for Lapenia-Lau after he sped away from a traffic stop at 12:32 a.m. Feb. 23 in Wailuku, dragging an officer 3 to 4 feet, according to police.

In court Tuesday, Lowenthal asked for bail to be reduced from the “extraordinarily high” $1.75 million to $50,000 for Lapenia-Lau.

“We recognize the severity of the accusations here,” Lowenthal said. “We are asking, however, that bail be lowered.”

He said conditions could be imposed on Lapenia-Lau, including a curfew and ban on driving.

Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Teshima asked for bail to remain at $1.75 million.

“This is based on defendant presenting a flight risk and extreme danger to the community,” Teshima said. “He twice tried to evade police arrest . . . using very dangerous, reckless driving that presented a risk to the officers present as well as the community.”

Lapenia-Lau will be facing allegations that he failed to abide by conditions of his probation in an abuse case, Teshima said. He said those allegations aren’t based on his arrest last week.

“So he’s showing inability to follow court orders and directions,” Teshima said. “Bail is reasonable given the severity of the charges in this case.”

Judge Hamman kept bail at $1.75 million.

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

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