LIHU‘E — A man who eluded police while driving a stolen motorcycle with a young child as a passenger pleaded guilty Monday to several crimes in two cases. David K. Alapai, 29, of Anahola, in a plea agreement pleaded guilty
LIHU‘E — A man who eluded police while driving a stolen motorcycle with a young child as a passenger pleaded guilty Monday to several crimes in two cases.
David K. Alapai, 29, of Anahola, in a plea agreement pleaded guilty to a reduced count of third-degree theft in one case, and several other charges in the motorcycle-theft case.
He will be sentenced Feb. 23 by 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe.
Alapai pleaded guilty to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, driving without a license, driving without motorcycle insurance and driving with a child not in a child-restraint device.
The UCPV charge is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
“Because I was guilty for the crimes,” Alapai said when asked by Watanabe why he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.
Dropped in the motorcycle-theft case were two, second-degree theft charges, and charges of resisting an order to stop, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangering, driving without no-fault vehicle insurance and one count of not having a child properly restrained in a child-safety seat.
In the theft case, James Tagupa represents Alapai. Lauren McDowell, county deputy prosecuting attorney, described it as a shoplifting case involving Waipouli Variety store.
Christian Enright, state deputy public defender, represents Alapai in the motorcycle-theft case.
In that case, Alapai was arrested Aug. 10 and had at his Anahola campsite a 2004 Honda motorcycle that had been reported stolen the month before and that Kaua‘i Police Department officers saw him riding earlier that day when they gave chase, an earlier county press release stated.
Officers earlier that day spotted Alapai driving an unlicensed motorcycle on Kawaihau Road in Kapa‘a, and pursued briefly, then suspended the chase for fear of the safety of the child on board the motorcycle with Alapai, the earlier county release stated.
Alapai was arrested later that morning while driving a sedan in Anahola.
Further investigation led officers to Alapai’s campsite in Anahola where the motorcycle he was driving earlier was located, and another motorcycle discovered nearby.
Both motorcycles were reported stolen in July, the county release stated.
Alapai is housed at Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center in Wailua.
