A Kailua-Kona man’s criminal record could be cleared of charges stemming from a “Peeping Tom” incident in a Target restroom last November if he stays out of further trouble. ADVERTISING A Kailua-Kona man’s criminal record could be cleared of charges
A Kailua-Kona man’s criminal record could be cleared of charges stemming from a “Peeping Tom” incident in a Target restroom last November if he stays out of further trouble.
Dancy Lakjohn on Feb. 12 entered guilty pleas to first-degree terroristic threatening and third-degree assault and a no contest plea to fourth-degree sexual assault before 3rd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance in Kona, according to court records.
Through his public defender, Lakjohn also requested and received a deferred acceptance of his pleas, meaning the convictions would be erased from his record if he stays out of trouble during the deferral period. Strance set a four-year deferral period for the terroristic threatening charge and one year periods for the remaining two charges.
In granting the deferral, Strance also added conditions that Lakjohn serve 11 months in jail, with all but five days suspended and credit for time served. She ordered him to begin serving the sentence on March 14, according to court records.
Lakjohn was arrested Nov. 12 after he allegedly peeped on Kailua-Kona fitness instructor Katie Moore in the restroom of the Kailua-Kona retailer. Moore told West Hawaii Today that she had stopped at the store to use the restroom when she noticed a man peering over a partition.
Moore said she and another man chased the peeper out of the store, then down the street toward the BMW of Hawaii dealership on Loloku Street where he stopped and reportedly pulled out a knife before fleeing into the dealership’s parking lot. The man helping Moore then tackled the suspect, who subsequently escaped after dropping the knife.
Assisted by a half-dozen bystanders, Moore was able to corner the man, later identified as Lakjohn, in a fenced area near Kekuaokalani Gymnasium. Hawaii Police Department officers then arrived and took him into custody.
Lakjohn’s jury trial was slated to commence on April 21. In addition to the three charges Lakjohn was sentenced for, he was also charged with second-degree criminal trespassing, however, that charge was subsequently dropped.
