Suspects were found sleeping on beach Two teenage men charged with setting fire to a tent with campers inside it at Polihale State Park early Saturday morning were arraigned Tuesday in Kaua’i District Court on attempted murder charges. Eamonn de
Suspects were found sleeping on beach
Two teenage men charged with setting fire to a tent with campers inside it at Polihale State Park early Saturday morning were arraigned Tuesday in Kaua’i District Court on attempted murder charges.
Eamonn de Carolan, 18, and Orion P. Macomber, 19, both of Kaua’i, allegedly set fire to a tent occupied by Kalena Mande and Damon L. Duncan.
The alleged incident took place at approximately 3:30 a.m. last Saturday. Authorities said a camper was awakened by the sound of someone rummaging through parked cars. A camper confronted a thief, who then fled.
At this time, the campers, part of a group of 20 men, noticed an occupied tent on fire. The fire was put out, and then it was discovered that someone had tried to set another tent on fire, authorities said.
A camper away from the main campsite also reported being assaulted, allegedly by de Carolan and Macomber.
The two suspects were found down the beach, not far from the crime scene, asleep with two kerosene cans, according to Kaua’i County Police detectives.
Both suspects are charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of terroristic threatening, one count of assault and harassment and two counts of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle.
The suspects were brought to court Tuesday afternoon in shackles and orange jumpsuits. Judge Trudy Senda set a preliminary hearing on the charges against the defendants for Thursday.
They are being held in lieu of $250,000 bond each at Kaua’i Community Correctional Center.
There was talk of hate-crime because the campers were reportedly flying the “Pink Triangle” gay symbol flag at their campsite. But the county’s chief deputy prosecutor, Craig De Costa, said Hawaii’s hate-crime legislation, which would strengthen prosecution of crimes tied to racial and sexual-orientation discrimination, is still awaiting Governor Ben Cayetano’s signature.
At one point during the alleged confrontation with their attackers, the campers “heard shouts and obscenities as a car sped toward them with the intent to run them over,” according to a police report.
Martin Rice, a Kaua’i resident who was among the campers, said Monday that sexual slurs were shouted by the assailants.
A member of the camping group reported being assaulted and suffering minor injuries.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
