The 60-year-old Ocean View man charged with arson for allegedly starting a fire that destroyed his family’s home made his initial court appearance Monday.
The 60-year-old Ocean View man charged with arson for allegedly starting a fire that destroyed his family’s home made his initial court appearance Monday.
Martin Mario Molina is charged with first-degree arson in connection with a Friday night fire that destroyed a two-story home located within the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision in Ka‘u, according to a court records.
During his initial District Court appearance before Judge Margaret Masunaga on Monday, Molina waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which is where the state would have worked to show it had sufficient evidence to support the filed charge.
Masunaga, who maintained bail at $50,000 for Molina, subsequently remanded the case to 3rd Circuit Court for further proceedings. Molina is slated to enter his plea to the felony charge on April 6 before Judge Elizabeth Strance.
First-degree arson is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years incarceration, without the possibility of a suspended sentence or probation, and a maximum fine of $50,000, according to Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Molina was taken into custody Friday night on suspicion of first-degree arson after firefighters responded to a residential fire on Pineapple Parkway. Molina, a resident of the home, admitted at the scene to starting the blaze, according to the Hawaii County Fire Department. No one was injured.
Firefighters responding to the 6:07 p.m. alarm found both floors of the 30-foot by 60-foot home burning. The house had four occupants, and three were away at the time of the fire.
A total of eight emergency units responded, and the loss was estimated at $270,000. The fire was under control at 8 p.m. and declared out at 10:30 p.m.
Evan Prestriedge is one of three family members who told West Hawaii Today that they had left the house following an argument with Molina. They had turned over two guns that had been in the house to police and were at a restaurant about a half hour away when officers called them to tell them about the fire.
The family, which has lived in Ocean View for four years, had planned to put the home up for sale and move to Washington. Molina was supposed to go with them, said the man’s wife, Shelley Molina.
A gofundme site has been created to help the family. As of Monday afternoon, more than $500 had been contributed. It can be found at gofundme.com/phl2is.