LIHU‘E — Former Kaua‘i Police Department officer Joseph Bonachita was convicted last week on charges including drinking and driving. Fifth Circuit Court Judge Trudy Senda convicted Bonachita of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant and inattention to
LIHU‘E — Former Kaua‘i Police Department officer Joseph Bonachita was convicted last week on charges including drinking and driving.
Fifth Circuit Court Judge Trudy Senda convicted Bonachita of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant and inattention to driving, after a three-hour bench trial, which means a trial held before a judge without a jury.
Bonachita on May 29, 2010, shortly after 12:45 a.m., struck a “Keep Right” sign on Kaumuali‘i Highway near the Maluhia junction, according to documentation provided by the Office of Prosecuting Attorney. A breath test gave a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .171 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath, the document states. Hawai‘i state law defines it a crime to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher.
Bonachita, represented by Deputy Public Defender Dena Renti Cruz, is scheduled to be sentenced May 31. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Becky Vogt represented the state of Hawai‘i.
Bonachita’s conviction wasn’t the former KPD patrolman’s first brush with the wrong side of the law.
He resigned from KPD in 2000. In April of that year, the prosecutor’s office charged Bonachita with felony sexual assault in a case concerning a female relative. He also was charged with misdemeanor abuse of a family member.
In August 2000 Bonachita pleaded no-contest to reduced charges of second-degree violation of privacy, a misdemeanor, and open lewdness, a petty misdemeanor, in connection with the original allegations of sexual assault.
He was originally charged with nine counts of sexual assault, including five felonies, but the case was pleaded down. At the time, Kaua’i County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Craig De Costa said the state of Hawai‘i would not seek incarceration, but would require sex-offender treatment for Bonachita.
Police again arrested Bonachita on July 1, 2009 on a charge of first-degree burglary, when he allegedly broke into the home of “South Park” creator Randolph “Trey” Parker and threatened Parker and Lauren Keala Megumi Kagawa with a knife.
Shortly after that, Kagawa, Bonachita’s former girlfriend, filed a temporary restraining order against the Hanapepe man. The order, according to archives, indicates that he sexually assaulted and choked the 27-year-old Puhi woman in March of that year. In an August hearing she told the court that he continued to harass her via e-mail. Arrest records did not show Bonachita was arrested for the alleged March incidents.
In the restraining order document, Kagawa wrote that Bonachita broke into a home belonging to a friend of hers looking for her, and had a knife on him, archives show.
Kagawa was found dead in August 2009 in the driveway of her subdivision home.
Bonachita, who is in his early 40s, was not identified as either a suspect or person of interest in the ongoing investigation.
• Jessica Musicar, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by e-mailing jmusicar@ thegardenisland.com.
