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Maui mayoral candidate Beau Hawkes is vowing to outlaw the use of Tasers by police if he wins election this fall.
The reason: A police officer used a stun gun on Hawkes on Wednesday.
“It was brutal,” he said.
A stunned Hawkes executed a face plant in the street Wednesday morning while attempting to elude an officer in an episode that was recorded on cellphone video that went viral on YouTube and Facebook.
Hawkes, 34, was arrested, released on $300 bail and given an Aug. 21 court date following the confrontation on Wells Street in Wai-luku.
He is the second challenger to incumbent Mayor Alan Ara-kawa to have experienced a run-in with the law. Nelson Wai-kiki Jr. was jailed following his July 15 arrest after a mayoral debate in Maka-wao. Wai-kiki was arrested on a $100,000 cash-only warrant alleging he violated conditions of his release in a criminal case.
Another candidate, Neldon Mamuad, was disqualified because of problems with the way he filed financial disclosure statements.
Hawkes, owner of a small business called Maui Wowie, the maker of bamboo bongs, said Friday he hopes his confrontation serves as a wake-up call to a corrupt government system and a catalyst for change.
A Maui police spokes-man was unavailable for comment.
