LIHUE — An Anahola man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges related to an incident last year when police were called to Kaiakea Lookout in Kapaa to investigate reports of a woman in the area screaming for help.
Michael Mawae, 27, was arrested in December for allegedly beating and dragging a woman he was dating down a hill. He was arraigned a month later on three counts — kidnapping, abuse of family or household members and second-degree terroristic threatening.
The Kauai Police Department’s application for Mawae’s arrest warrant states that an officer was dispatched to Kaiakea Lookout about 11 p.m. on Nov. 15. The KPD officer arrived on the scene and found a panicked woman in grass-stained clothing, according to the officer’s report of the incident.
The woman told police that she and Mawae, whom she had been dating for about two months, got into a verbal altercation earlier that night. The argument eventually turned violent when Mawae allegedly grabbed the woman’s hand and twisted her pinky finger, according to the police report, which notes the officer observed redness and swelling on the woman’s hand.
The woman told police Mawae then dragged her by the hair about 20 yards down a rocky hill before he shoved her head to the ground and covered her mouth and nose with his hand. The woman said Mawae cut off her air supply for about 20 seconds, “causing her to fear for her life.”
The officer’s report again noted the woman’s condition, observing a small cut and swelling on her upper lip.
A eyewitness told police that he was driving through the Kaiakea Lookout area when he observed a female — later identified as the woman Mawae was dating — on the ground with a male standing over her near a pickup truck. The witness said it looked like the man was “grabbing the female by the arms and upper torso,” and drove over to see what was happening.
The witness went by the pickup truck, saw the woman lying on the ground and later saw the couple standing together, the woman with her back turned to the man, according to the police report. The witness told police he tried to talk to the woman, “but she refused to look at or speak to him.”
Mawae did not respond to a phone call requesting a comment on the incident.
In another pending court case, Mawae is charged with abusing a family or household member.
He faces two other counts in that case, a felony burglary charge and fourth-degree criminal property damage, a petty misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. Jury trials are tentatively scheduled for both cases in the next two months.
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Caleb Loehrer, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or cloehrer@thegardenisland.com.
