Chad Lewis was convicted of second-degree robbery, unlawful imprisonment, resisting the order to stop and reckless driving in relation to an alleged car-jacking in Kaumakani in February. Lewis, 27, of Hanapepe, was convicted after a two-day jury trial and nearly
Chad Lewis was convicted of second-degree robbery, unlawful imprisonment, resisting the order to stop and reckless driving in relation to an alleged car-jacking in Kaumakani in February.
Lewis, 27, of Hanapepe, was convicted after a two-day jury trial and nearly a day of deliberations, said deputy prosecuting attorney Craig De Costa.
He will be sentenced September 30.
Lewis was originally charged with first-degree robbery and kidnapping, both class A felonies, after an incident in February where an ‘Oma‘o man was confronted between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. at the Thrifty Mart in Kaumakani by Lewis, who forced him to drive to Lawa‘i and then took his car.
But the jury decided that second-degree robbery, a B felony, and unlawful imprisonment, a misdemeanor, were more appropriate, said De Costa.
The prosecutor said that he was happy with the result, and expected the verdict on the lesser charges.
De Costa said he would’ve needed to prove that a gun was involved to prove the first-degree robbery charge. He said that while it was alleged that Lewis took the victim’s car at gunpoint, the gun was never found.
On the kidnapping charge, he said, a greater burden of proof needed to be met than the jury could glean from the evidence.
“Our goal was to get him on a B felony, and we did,” he said Wednesday after the verdict.
He added that the felony conviction, with Lewis’ prior convictions, forces Circuit Court Judge Clifford Nakea to sentence Lewis to 10 years because of state mandatory minimum guidelines.
KPD officers were “very interested in the outcome of this case,” said De Costa. “He’s a repeat offender, a violent offender, who runs from the police when they look for him. That irritates law enforcement.”
De Costa added that when police found Lewis, he led the officers on a high-speed chase, reaching almost 90 miles per hour on Kuhio Highway and fronting a preschool on Kaumakani Road.
The convictions for resisting the order to stop and reckless driving, both misdemeanors, stem from that incident.
He was arrested later that day in Pakala camp, off Kaumuali‘i Highway in Makaweli, while driving another car, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer.
The victim’s car was recovered later, she said.
No one was injured in the incident.
Lewis is currently at Kaua‘i Community Correctional Facility after his parole was revoked on a 2001 terroristic threatening conviction, De Costa said.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226)
