Hanalei man guilty of shakedown

LIHU‘E — Chief Judge Randal Valenciano, of the 5th Circuit, on Wednesday found William “Dukie” Kepia Puulei, 52, of Hanalei, guilty of second-degree robbery, second-degree terroristic threatening, third-degree attempted extortion and first-degree terroristic threatening.

The case arose out of an incident on Oct. 13 in which the defendant attempted to take food from a lunch wagon located at the dry cave area of Ha‘ena Beach Park. Puulei threatened a female lunch wagon worker, and then pulled out a knife and threatened a good Samaritan who came to her aide.

Testimony presented during the two-and-a-half-day bench trial showed that the defendant, who is over 6 feet tall, repeatedly shouted, “Do you want protection?” to the 5-foot-tall lunch wagon worker while she told him to put the items back.

The defendant also reportedly yelled to the Thai immigrant victim, “I am the local protection,” and “Go back to Taiwan,” as he lowered her lunch wagon windows during the incident.

Testimony was also heard from the good Samaritan, a  vacationing fireman from Washington who was visiting the beach with his family when he came upon the incident.

He told the court that when he came to the victim’s aid, Puulei brandished a knife from a sheath and told him, “This is not your business. Get back in your tourist car and leave my island. This is a local issue.”

The fireman was able to defuse the situation and assisted the victim in calling 911 to report the incident. Police responded and located Puulei about one-tenth of a mile away where they recovered the sheath and knife from him.

In announcing his verdict, Valenciano said the case was a “shakedown” on the lunch wagon worker, and that the defendant’s offer of protection was for him to leave the the victim alone in return for free merchandise.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 26. Puulei could face up to 15 years imprisonment.