Homeless man charged in meat cleaver attack
Police said a homeless man hit another homeless man on the back of the head with the cleaver about 12:50 p.m. at Kamamalu Park near Queen Emma Street. The suspect was arrested.
An off-duty law enforcement officer, Mark Hunsaker, said he took out his gun and held the suspect until Honolulu police arrived.
Prosecutors charged a 32-year-old homeless man with second-degree attempted murder and terroristic threatening after he allegedly hit another man with a meat cleaver during a fight in downtown park Wednesday,
Eldridge Kahoano made his initial appearance in District Court this morning on charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree terroristic threatening. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
Police said Mark Hunsaker, a former Honolulu police commissioner and deputy sheriff on the mainland, intervened after Kahoano allegedly struck a 41-year-old man in the head with the cleaver at Kamamalu Park on Queen Emma Street at about 12:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Police said the suspect grabbed a meat cleaver and told the victim several times that he was going to kill him. When the victim picked up a hammer, Kahoano then allegedly struck him.. The victim went to the Queen’s Medical Center, where he was released in fair condition, police said.
Hunsaker, who was on the police commission from 2006 to 2009, works as a Honolulu accountant and as a deputy sheriff in Chautauqua County, Kan.
