Man slated to enter pleas in ‘Peeping Tom’ case

An 18-year-old Kailua-Kona man is slated to enter pleas on charges stemming from a “Peeping Tom” incident in a Target restroom.

Dancy Lakjohn on Wednesday waived a preliminary hearing in which the state would have had to prove it had sufficient evidence to support charges of felony terroristic threatening, fourth-degree sexual assault, third-degree assault and second-degree criminal trespassing, according to District Court records.

An arraignment and plea hearing has been set for Dec. 17 in 3rd Circuit Court before Judge Elizabeth Strance in Kona.

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. 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.