A 41-year-old Volcano man who allegedly pulled a gun on his wife and two children during a domestic dispute late last week will undergo a mental examination.
Hilo District Judge Barbara Takase on Thursday ordered the exam by three mental health professionals for Ben Lucas Domingo. The judge also ordered Domingo to return to court at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 30.
Domingo is charged with kidnapping, violating a protective order, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and four counts of terroristic threatening for the incident that took place Friday night and Saturday morning at the family’s Mokuna Street home.
Domingo’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jeff Ng, requested supervised release for his client, pending results of the mental examination.
“He indicates that he’s working at the Punaluu bakery and that he wants to be out to support his children,” Ng told the judge.
Deputy Prosecutor Stephen Frye objected to Domingo being released without bail “based on the severity of the offense.”
“Use of a firearm is alleged, threatening the lives of the complaining witnesses in this matter,” Frye said.
Takase denied the request for supervised release and maintained Domingo’s bail at $117,000.
According to court documents filed by police, at about 9 p.m. Friday, Domingo, who is under a court order issued on May 26 to not contact, threaten or physically harm his wife, 41-year-old Nicole Young Domingo, held her in a headlock with one arm and pointed a silver and black handgun at her head with the other hand.
The restraining order expires on May 10, 2018, according to documents.
Children of the couple, a 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy, witnessed the incident, documents state. The court filings also allege Domingo pointed the firearm at the children and told them “get out.”
A search warrant was executed on the house, documents state, and a loaded, silver-and-black Phoenix Arms .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol was found.
According to documents, Domingo, a Philippine-born naturalized U.S. citizen, has two prior felony convictions, for second-degree theft and second-degree forgery.
The Special Response Team, the police department’s SWAT unit, responded to the Friday night incident while members of the Crisis Negotiation Team communicated with the family throughout the night. On Saturday morning, Domingo was arrested without incident.
There were no major road closures, but nearby homes were evacuated, police said. No injuries occurred, either to civilians or law enforcement personnel.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
