A businessman was arrested Thursday and charged with harassment for spraying water on people protesting his business that transports kayaks to Kailua Beach Park.
Bob Twogood, owner of Twogood Kayaks Hawaii on Hamakua Drive, said he was watering trees near his store as usual when one of the women protesting said, "Thank you, thank you. That’s so cooling."
"It looked like they wanted to be cooled off, so I obliged," he said, adding that he sprayed about four people who were about 10 feet away. "I sprayed about a minute and a half."
He said he wasn’t trying to chase away the 15 or so people and didn’t hear anyone say they didn’t like it. He stopped when he was "done watering the trees."
Earlier, Twogood had called police because he was concerned, he said, about the safety of demonstrators holding signs and standing in the street, especially a woman who was carrying a baby.
When officers arrived at about 2:30 p.m., Twogood went out to meet them, thinking they were there because of his complaint. Instead, officers arrested him because of protesters’ complaints.
"It’s probably not a good idea to provide aid and comfort to protesters," Twogood reflected later.
He said he was detained for about an hour. Police said Twogood was charged with four counts of harassment, a petty misdemeanor, and released after he posted $350 bail.
Twogood said the demonstrators were protesting commercial activity at Kailua Beach, an issue under debate while Mayor Peter Carlisle considers a bill banning all commercial activities at the beach, including dropping off equipment.
Twogood had planned to hold a news conference at about 2 p.m. Thursday, bringing Kailua business owners together to explain how the bill would affect their sales and staff, but the meeting was rescheduled to 11 a.m. today.
The demonstrators showed up anyway in support of the bill, leading to Twogood’s arrest.
Twogood said supporters of Bill 11 haven’t thought through what will happen if it becomes law.
"It’s not going to accomplish what they want," he said. "It will increase the number of kayaks that people complain about."
He said his customers don’t go into the beach park because his company drops off kayaks in a sand lot on the other side of the road from the park, next to a stream that leads to the ocean.
He said if the bill passes, it will put companies like his out of business because visitors would find bringing kayaks to the beach from Kailua town inconvenient. But residents are most bothered by the kayaks that are rented near the park and wheeled by the customers to the beach on dollies, he said.
He said the ban on all commercial activities at the park would also include exercise classes and hired entertainment for children’s parties.
