Deferral granted in Thanksgiving car burning
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 50-year-old man who set his car on fire in downtown Honolulu the day after Thanksgiving in protest against Bank of Hawaii will be able to avoid a criminal record and convictions for reckless endangering, criminal property damage and assault if he stays out of trouble for the next five years, a Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday.
Advertiser library photo • Nov. 28, 2001
Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto granted a request by Richard G. Elstner that the court defer accepting the plea of no contest that Elstner entered in the case earlier this year. Sakamoto said if Elstner abides by conditions similar to probation, he will avoid a criminal record.
Richard Elstner set his car on fire to protest against Bank of Hawaii.
In asking Sakamoto to defer on the matter, Elstner's lawyer, state Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, said Elstner was in the midst of a "contentious legal battle with Bank of Hawaii" and believed that bank subsidiary Pacific Century Trust was "squandering his money."
Elstner filed a lawsuit in state Circuit Court in August 2001 claiming the bank mismanaged the trust accounts of his deceased mother and father. But an attorney for the bank and trust company said the same allegations had been heard previously in probate court, which ruled in the bank's favor.
Eddins said that after spending six months in jail awaiting trial and three months at Kahi Mohala receiving mental health counseling, Elstner "now wishes he hadn't done it." Eddins said the car Elstner set on fire, an old-model Mercedes-Benz, was diesel-powered and there was virtually no chance the fuel tank would explode.
He said Elstner parked the car in the middle of Bishop Street near King Street and made sure no one was close by when he ignited the fire inside the car. Eddins said Elstner stood by the burning car with a fire extinguisher to make sure the flames did not spread and then "made a misjudgment by going into Bank of Hawaii and shooting off the fire extinguisher."
In his remarks to the court, Elstner apologized for his actions.
"The litigation with Bank of Hawaii has been very extreme and took a psychological toll on me, and one day, I just lost it," Elstner said.
Eddins said the bank paid the bill for Elstner's treatment at Kahi Mohala.
City Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Ikeda described the car-burning incident as "pretty extreme" and said Elstner "terrified a lot of employees at Bank of Hawaii and should be held accountable.
"What he did was not run-of-the-mill behavior," Ikeda said in asking Sakamoto to deny the deferral.
But Sakamoto noted that Elstner had "gone for nearly five decades without committing a crime" and was suffering from the stress that comes with the fear of losing a large amount of money. In granting the deferral, the judge said Elstner has "taken positive steps to address his problems."
Elstner said outside the courtroom that he hopes to find work as a construction manager and that he is appealing the probate court's ruling on his legal battle with the trust company.
Reach David Waite at 525-8030, or e-mail at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.
