Posted on: Thursday, March 22, 2001

Man, 19, pleads guilty to robbery

By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday to robbery, burglary and kidnapping charges in connection with a home invasion and attack on an 82-year-old Kailua woman last August.

Evan Lowther faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced as part of the plea agreement, which calls for a minimum term of three years and four months for a crime against a person over 60, prosecutors said.

In exchange for Lowther's agreement to testify against co-defendant Kawika Crites-Burgess, prosecutors said they agreed not to seek the higher minimum of six years, eight months on the kidnapping count. Lowther's attorney, Victor Bakke, could not be reached for comment.

Authorities say two men in black clothing and ski caps broke into the woman's home Aug. 21 as she slept. The woman was awakened and grabbed a flashlight and baseball bat, but was knocked down, handcuffed, and told not to move as her house was ransacked, prosecutors said. The woman suffered a fractured wrist.

A break in the case came when a man was spotted tossing suitcases into Kaelepulu stream belonging to the victim and a license plate traced back to Lowther, prosecutors said.

Crites-Burgess, 20, also pleaded guilty to robbery and burglary, prosecutors said, but is on trial before Circuit Judge Sandra Simms on the kidnapping charge.