LIHUE — A man who repeatedly kicked another man, causing him to need facial reconstruction surgery, will serve one year in jail and has to pay $60,614 in restitution. Austin Thronas, 21, was sentenced Wednesday to four years of probation
LIHUE — A man who repeatedly kicked another man, causing him to need facial reconstruction surgery, will serve one year in jail and has to pay $60,614 in restitution.
Austin Thronas, 21, was sentenced Wednesday to four years of probation and one year in jail for assault in the second degree. Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe also ordered Thronas to pay $53,431.92 to the victim of the assault and $7,182.66 to MedQuest.
He was originally charged with one count of assault in the first degree, one count of assault in the second degree and one count of assault in the third degree.
“This is a Rule 11 case,” Watanabe said to Thronas. “That means that your attorney on your behalf and the prosecutor came up with an agreement to resolve this case so there would be no trial. And that agreement is to place you on probation with up to one year in jail. One year being the maximum that the court can sentence you.”
Thronas agreed to plead no contest to the assault second degree charge on Nov. 4, and the state dropped the additional charges.
The incident took place at the Kealia Lookout above the Kapaa bike path on Oct. 6, 2012. Thronas was still a juvenile at the time, but he was waived into circuit court.
Second deputy prosecutor Rebecca Vogt said Thronas was harassing the victim’s nephews and the victim intervened.
Thronas then pushed the victim, causing the man to fall. Thronas then repeatedly kicked him the face, Vogt said. He paused when the victim’s nephews tried to stop him, but then persisted in punching and kicking the victim in the face, Vogt said.
Vogt said the victim suffered multiple fractures, including a broken nose and jaw. He was required to have surgery to realign his jaw, which was wired shut for more than a month, she said.
The victim’s wife was in the gallery during the sentencing, but declined to speak with The Garden Island.
Defense attorney Craig De Costa said Thronas did not want to go out and seek violence.
“Alcohol was being consumed and (the victim) approached Mr. Thronas and got in his face,” De Costa said. “Mr. Thronas then pushed (the victim) to bring an end to that confrontation. What Mr. Thronas did that went too far was that he kicked (the victim) while he was down.”
De Costa said Thronas has taken responsibility for the assault.
“I want to apologize, your honor, for my actions,” Thronas said. “To (the victim) for my injuries upon him. I regret it every day. If I can go back in time and change my actions and settle it in a non-violent way, I would do that, your honor.”
Typically, the maximum term for an assault in the second degree charge, which is class C felony, is five years in jail.
Thronas was serving one year on a theft case, for which he was convicted on Oct. 1. The sentences will run concurrently.
