Trial will start Monday for the 32-year-old homeless man who allegedly severed the spear on Hilo’s Kamehameha the Great statue during last year’s Labor Day holiday weekend.
Trial will start Monday for the 32-year-old homeless man who allegedly severed the spear on Hilo’s Kamehameha the Great statue during last year’s Labor Day holiday weekend.
William Roy Carroll III confirmed at a hearing Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court he is rejecting a plea deal in which he would receive probation and time already served in jail, wouldn’t be assessed a fine or be ordered to pay restitution, according to court records.
Court documents filed by police state Bayfront Motors security video shows Carroll stealing a pole and about 40 feet of chain and dragging it toward the direction of the statue in Wailoa River State Recreation Area.
A tour operator reported an almost six-foot section of the spear missing Sept. 6. Police found the spear, plus the pole and chain, concealed in a palm frond along the banks of the Wailoa River two days later.
The vandalism and theft of the bronze spear garnered national media attention.
Artist and metalworker Wes Hammond repaired the spear, which was reattached to the iconic statue of the Hawaiian monarch in December.
Carroll, who had recently moved to Hilo from Oahu when the vandalism of the statue occurred, is charged with second-degree criminal property damage plus second- and third-degree theft. The first two charges are Class C felonies punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, while third-degree theft is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
“Once sentenced, you are done with jail time. Understand?” Judge Glenn Hara told Carroll, records state.
“Understand,” Carroll reportedly replied.
Deputy Prosecutor Haaheo Kahoohalahala told the judge if Carroll took the deal, he would be eligible for a plea deferral, which means the conviction would be erased from the record if he served his probation without getting into further trouble with the law. She added the state wouldn’t take a position either for or against a deferral for Carroll.
Hara told Carroll once the process of jury selection begins a deferral is no longer available, but Carroll told the judge he still wants a trial.
At Carroll’s arraignment on Sept. 16, Deputy Prosecutor Jack Matsukawa estimated the trial would last a week.
Carroll’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Zachary Wingert told the court Carroll also has a plea deal on the table in a Honolulu case in which he’s charged with drunken driving plus possession of a dangerous drug and drug paraphernalia. Wingert said Carroll had been offered probation and a 30-day jail sentence in that case, as well, and noted Carroll has been in custody longer than 30 days.
Carroll is scheduled be be tried on those charges June 27 in Honolulu Circuit Court.
He remains incarcerated at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $11,000 bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.