LIHU‘E— State Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kathleen N. A. Watanabe ordered a Moloa‘a man into custody without bail Wednesday afternoon.
Jeffrey Anthony Giacobetti, 51, was taken to the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center after Watanabe chose to follow the recommendation of Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jared Brickey, after deliberation between Brickey, Watanabe and Giacobetti’s attorney, Mark Zenger.
Watanabe followed Brickey’s recommendation because Giacobetti has allegedly continued to violate orders of protection, contacting the alleged victim after posting bail.
“Somehow he managed to not follow the court order 12 times,” Brickey said during the deliberation.
Giacobetti’s most recent incident stemmed from a disturbance that occurred Aug. 26, when he knowingly did damage to the property of Kaua‘i Creative Academy of Fine Arts in Kilauea and allegedly threatened a minor.
Giacobetti intentionally or knowingly violated the protective order, which was filed by the alleged victim in January this year, court documents show.
The court documents stated that Giacobetti caused the evacuation of an elementary school when he allegedly “recklessly threatened” an 8-year-old to a person he was legally restrained from.
Zenger recommended Giacobetti be transported to Colorado, where he has family, to receive mental-health treatment he claims is needed to deal with the grief the separation from the alleged victim has caused.
Watanabe ruled against that, citing the state’s inability to track him and because he had the means to bond out of a $100,000 bond Sept. 18, he would still have the means to travel back to Hawai‘i to make contact with the alleged victim.
Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano increased the bail amounts by $500 in three of Giacobetti’s cases. As long as there is a no bail on one of those cases, Giacobetti will remain incarcerated without the possibility of bonding out.
Giacobetti has 12 other pending cases against him.
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Jason Blasco, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
