HONOLULU (AP) — A man who was under arrest in a Maui meth trafficking investigation bit an officer after refusing to go back into a holding cell, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.
HONOLULU (AP) — A man who was under arrest in a Maui meth trafficking investigation bit an officer after refusing to go back into a holding cell, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.
Edward Vierra was arrested Monday on Maui after he received a package of methamphetamine mailed from California to Maui, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
After he and co-defendant Kelly Eleneki were taken to Honolulu, Vierra asked to use the restroom. When he was done, he refused to return to the cell and a scuffle followed, authorities said.
The criminal complaint said he bit two officers, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Roberts said in court Thursday Vierra bit one officer twice — on a finger and on a forearm. Another officer was left with bruised ribs, Roberts said.
“I think he might have been under the influence at the time,” Vierra’s defense attorney, Walter Rodby, said of his behavior while in custody.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang ordered Vierra and Eleneki to enter drug treatment programs.
The case involves two packages mailed to Wailuku containing a total of about 7 pounds of meth, the complaint said.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted the first package on July 29. The next day, a postal inspector posing as a mail carrier delivered the package while agents watched.
Soon afterward, Eleneki was seen leaving the home driving a pickup truck with the parcel inside, the documents said, adding the truck was followed by a sedan driven by Vierra. Both vehicles drove to sugar cane fields where the parcel was left, unopened, the document said.
On July 31, the second parcel bound for the same address was intercepted. An unknown man took the parcel on a dirt bike. Authorities tried to pull him over, but he fled, the complaint said. The package was later found unopened in the middle of a sugar cane field.
When authorities went back to the house where it was delivered, Vierra was seen leaving a second small residence at the same location, authorities said.
An unknown man yelled out to Vierra, “Get rid of your backpack,” and he began running and discarded the backpack, the complaint said.
Inside the bag, authorities found cash and a digital scale, the complaint said. The cash totaled nearly $10,000, Roberts said in court.
Eleneki received the second package, which had much more meth inside than the first one, Roberts said.
There’s no indication Eleneki knew what was inside, said his defense attorney, Jason Say.