Posted on: Thursday, June 28, 2001

Man accused of violating order, hurting ex-wife

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 38-year-old man faces numerous charges after his 40-year-old ex-wife was burned in the face with a soldering iron and stabbed in the abdomen early yesterday morning.

The woman was in guarded condition yesterday at the Queen's Medical Center.

Police said the woman called police at 1:30 a.m. yesterday to report that her ex-husband was at her Kuhio Park Terrace apartment in violation of a temporary restraining order. By the time officers arrived, police said, the man had fled.

But at about 4:30 a.m., police said, the man returned to the 15th-floor apartment in the state housing project on Linapuni Street. This time, police said, the woman was burned by a soldering iron and stabbed more than once with a tool.

When police arrived, the man barricaded himself in a bedroom. Police Detective Mark Wiese said officers established a rapport with the suspect, who allowed an officer into the bedroom at about 5:10 a.m.

But Wiese said the man did not give up without a struggle. Wiese said an officer was kicked and several officers were needed to subdue the man.

None of the officers was seriously injured and the suspect was treated for minor injuries before being taken into custody, he said. The woman's two teenage sons were in the apartment, but they were not injured.

The man was booked on charges of kidnapping, assault, terroristic threatening, assaulting a police officer and violating a restraining order. Wiese said charges were expected to be filed today.

Wiese said the suspect has six convictions over the past four years for abuse of a household member and terroristic threatening. He said the woman took the right steps to protect herself from her ex-husband.

"A TRO is not a free ticket to safety," Wiese said. "What it is it helps us to get the process to protect you more."