LIHU‘E — The 20-year-old man arrested at Lihu‘e Airport in December after assaulting security personnel and a police officer and damaging a Hawaiian Airlines ticket kiosk pleaded guilty this week to four charges and could potentially spend more than two
LIHU‘E — The 20-year-old man arrested at Lihu‘e Airport in December after assaulting security personnel and a police officer and damaging a Hawaiian Airlines ticket kiosk pleaded guilty this week to four charges and could potentially spend more than two decades behind bars.
Cato Springs Donahue-Tyrrell pleaded guilty to the felony offenses of second-degree criminal property damage and first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer. Each of the Class C felonies could earn Donahue-Tyrrell five years in prison, and because he is being found guilty of more than one felony, the maximum sentence for offense is doubled for a maximum of 20 years.
Donahue-Tyrrell also pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanor offenses that could add one year imprisonment apiece, and three misdemeanor charges were dropped under the plea agreement, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Donahoe said. Both Donahoe and defense attorney Mark Zenger said in court that the Prosecutor’s Office has agreed to request Donahue-Tyrrell receive no more than six months prison time.
The minimum prison time for the first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer is 30 days. Sentencing is scheduled for May 20, and 5th Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe is under no legal obligation to abide by recommendations from the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to a reciting of the case facts read into record by Donahoe — who confirmed he had no relation to the defendant — Donahue-Tyrell grew agitated while at the airport, fighting a pair of security personnel before head-butting a Kaua‘i Police Department officer on Dec. 17.
According to a December statement from the Kaua‘i Police Department, Officer James Rodriguez sustained a contusion to his head when Donahue-Tyrrell head-butted the officer as he was being searched.
Donahue-Tyrrell, who said he had previously lived in Colorado and California, also told Watanabe that he did not remember the incident as he was not on medication for a mental condition at the time.
The charge of second-degree criminal property damage charge requires that the damage exceed $1,500 in value. Donahoe said the ticket kiosk could cost up to $5,000, although Hawaiian Airlines is looking into repairing the machine.
First-degree criminal property damage, a Class B felony, requires the value of damaged property to exceed $20,000 or that the offender place another person in danger of death or bodily injury.
Donahue-Tyrrell told Watanabe when changing his plea to guilty that he would be paying for the damage to the machine as well as roughly $200 for a pair of glasses belonging to one of the airport security personnel that was damaged in the incident.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
