Suspect in Kalihi game room fight charged with terroristic threatening
STAR-ADVERTISER / JUNE 2012
Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario sentenced Kilani Deregoto life in prison with the possibility of parole.
A 26-year-old man who allegedly threatened another man with a firearm at a suspected Kalihi game room has been charged with terroristic threatening.
Kilani Derego was charged Tuesday night for first-degree terroristic threatening and firearm-related charges. His bail is set at $150,000.
Police said a male suspect later identified as Derego entered the game room shortly before 3:30 a.m. Monday where he brandished a gun at another man and demanded money. A scuffle ensued between the two men and the firearm discharged twice.
Police said there were no gunshot injuries but a bouncer fought with Derego who sustained multiple head and face injuries in the altercation. It is unclear whether the bouncer was the man Derego initially threatened.
Officers recovered the pistol at the scene and arrested Derego on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree reckless endangering and three counts of firearm-related offenses.
Emergency Medical Services treated and transported him to Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.
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Police said Derego is still at the hospital and has been moved to a room from the intensive care unit.
Derego is scheduled to be retried for murder in the 2010 beating death of a taxicab driver in Waipahu.
In 2012, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder in the death of Charlys Ty Tang.
Early on May 1, 2010, Derego, then 18, and Michael Robles, 19, entered a cab driven by Tang in Waikiki. They arrived at the Waipahu Times Super Market parking lot when Tang and Derego argued, prosecutors said. Robles testified that Derego assaulted Tang.
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals overturned the murder conviction in 2015, ruling that the judge should not have allowed the state to present Robles’ police statements as evidence.
Del Rosario allowed the prosecutor to present the police statements to jurors after Robles refused to answer questions at Derego’s trial. The appellate court said his refusal to answer questions denied Derego his right to cross-examine his accuser in the police statements.
The appeals court sent the case back to Circuit Court for retrial which is tentatively set for January.
Derego was released from prison in July on a $150,000 bond despite repeated objections from prosecutors.
