Tom Yamamoto, 37, was sentenced Oct. 18 in Fifth Circuit Court to five years in prison for felony theft and assault on a Kaua’i County Police officer. Authorities said Yamamoto took the cash register from the Kaua’i Chop Suey at
Tom Yamamoto, 37, was sentenced Oct. 18 in Fifth Circuit Court to five years in prison for felony theft and assault on a Kaua’i County Police officer.
Authorities said Yamamoto took the cash register from the Kaua’i Chop Suey at Harbor Mall in Nawiliwili in June 2000 and ran, and that when an officer tried to stop Yamamoto, he punched the officer in the head, face and arms.
Yamamoto, incarcerated at Kaua’i Community Correctional Center since last June, won’t start serving his new sentence until he completes the remaining portion of a previous five-year sentence for felony theft of utility services.
In other cases:
– Asa Gasaway, 32, was sentenced Oct. 18 to five years in prison for a felony assault that took place in August 2000 at Hanamaulu Beach Park.
The victim, a 52-year-old Kapa’a man, suffered fractured ribs and had to be hospitalized, according to authorities.
Gasaway, incarcerated at the correctional center since July 4, has three prior convictions for misdemeanor assaults.
– Alika Soares, 19, of Kalaheo, entered no-contest pleas to felony charges of breaking into an automobile and theft.
The first incident happened last December, when witnesses saw Soares breaking into a van in Po’ipu, authorities said.
The second offense took place in March and involved the theft of binoculars, a camera, a watch, a knife, a tool set, a back pack and clothing. Soares was linked to that theft when he attempted to sell some of the stolen merchandise at a pawn shop, officials said.
Sentencing is set for Dec. 27.
Leo Mitsui, 19, of Kilauea, entered guilty pleas Monday to possessing methamphetamine and possessing drug paraphernalia, both felonies. The pleas are conditional and he has appealed.
Police arrested Mitsui on Oct. 9, 2000, on suspicion of robbing a tourist the day before. During the, officers said they discovered methamphetamine in Mitsui’s possession.
He is facing mandatory imprisonment because the drug involved was methamphetamine. Sentencing is set for Jan. 3, 2002.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
