LIHUE — Prosecutors are asking a judge to deny bail to an Anahola man with charges pending in three cases related to allegations that he spent the better part of the last year terrorizing a woman he was involved with.
Prosecutors have brought felony charges against Michael Mawae, 27, three separate times since March for a series of alleged incidents that began in October, when he allegedly got into an argument with his on-again-off-again girlfriend at the Kealia lookout point.
Since that time, prosecutors say Mawae has refused to stay away from the woman. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Katherine Caswell, in a motion filed Tuesday, requested Mawae’s bail be revoked or at least increased from $15,000 to $50,000, on the grounds that “there is a serious danger” he will continue to intimidate and victimize the woman he has been seeing.
After Mawae’s girlfriend kicked him out of her car on the night of the argument, he “started to strike” the woman’s vehicle “and then fell,” Caswell wrote. Later that night, Mawae allegedly broke into the woman’s home through a window, grabbed her by both arms and headbutted her.
Mawae was arrested and charged with burglary, family abuse and criminal property damage. He posted the $10,000 bail, and a month later got into another argument at another scenic viewpoint. This time it was the Kaiakea Lookout in Kapaa, where police say a dispute on the night of Nov. 15 turned violent.
According to a police affidavit, Mawae grabbed the woman by her arm and hair and then “dragged her about twenty yards down a grassy/rocky hill,” before shoving her head to the ground and covering her mouth and nose with his hand, cutting off her air supply until she feared for her life.
Prosecutors filed a second case against Mawae for the alleged incident, adding a class A felony — kidnapping — and two more misdemeanors to his growing list of charges. This time bail was set at $25,000.
Then, in June, with both cases still unresolved, Mawae was back on the street. Again he tracked down the woman, according to court documents, which say he showed up to his girlfriend’s home about 6:30 in the morning.
Caswell’s motion says Mawae pounded on the woman’s bedroom door and eventually kicked it down before entering the room, where he allegedly grabbed the woman by the face.
A third set of charges followed that alleged incident. This time, one count of burglary accompanied family abuse and criminal property damage. Bail was set at $15,000.
Less than six weeks later, the woman told law enforcement officials Mawae was at it again. Last Wednesday night, he allegedly entered her home through an unlocked door, went into her bedroom “and chased her around the house,” Caswell wrote in her memo.
“As she was trying to get away from him,” Caswell wrote, Mawae “grabbed her nightgown and ripped it off of her.” During the altercation, he threw the woman on the bed, “held her down and bit her cheek,” according to Caswell, who said the woman escaped by waiting until Mawae fell asleep and sneaking out of the house.
He also allegedly followed the woman to an elementary school where she dropped off her child, causing a scene until police were called. The woman said he found her at a local volunteer event later that day as well, standing nearby the area she was working and staring at volunteers.
He is set to appear in Fifth Circuit Court on Thursday morning, when a judge will rule on the request for a bail increase and decide whether to issue an order for Mawae not to contact the woman.
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Caleb Loehrer, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or cloehrer@thegardenisland.com.
