A man charged in what police say was an unprovoked knife attack on another man near Mayor Wright Homes last month entered a not-guilty plea Thursday in Circuit Court.
John Posco Sukuruta, 24, remains in Oahu Community Correctional Center, unable to post $75,000 bail on a charge of second-degree attempted murder.
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins set his trial for the week of July 9.
According to a police affidavit, Sukuruta was intoxicated and "getting out of control" when he left an apartment in the public housing complex in Kalihi on April 19. He had been drinking with a cousin.
The cousin said he followed Sukuruta to Liliha Street and saw him approach a 30-year-old man and yell at him. Police said the "unprovoked" confrontation took place at 1:38 a.m. as the victim was getting out of his car.
Sukuruta’s cousin said Sukuruta raised a knife in his right hand and, while cursing, stabbed the man twice in his left cheek and twice in the left shoulder, police said.
Paramedics took the victim to a hospital in serious condition with several stab wounds. He was later upgraded to stable condition.
Sukuruta was arrested in Chinatown at 2:05 a.m., about 45 minutes after the stabbing.
Witnesses identified him as the attacker, and police found a knife nearby.
It was the third stabbing at or near Mayor Wright in the past year.
On Jan. 27 a 32-year-old man died from stab wounds and three others were seriously injured. Police arrested a 33-year-old Mayor Wright tenant, but released him after the prosecutor’s office said he acted in self-defense.
On Sept. 10 police arrested 21-year-old Takson Krstoth for the fatal stabbing of TJ "Tipuk" Mori, 24, after an argument at the complex. Krstoth is awaiting trial after being charged with second-degree murder.
