2 men charged in Young St. beating

By Curtis Lum and Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writers

Two men were charged yesterday with felony assault in the July 30 beating of two other men who police said were providing security for an illegal gambling house.

The fight appeared to be the result of a turf war between two gangs that provide security to gambling rooms, police said. The attack occurred while the two men were guarding a gaming room at 1334 Young St., and involved up to 20 members of the rival group, police said.

Charged yesterday were Solomona "Solo" Nakagawa, 29, of Waikele, and Robert Holi Kaialau III, 33, of Nanakuli. Nakagawa faces four of the seven counts of second-degree assault filed against the two men. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Kaialau's bail is $75,000.

According to a police affidavit filed at District Court, one guard was installing a security camera for the gameroom when he was pulled off a ladder by two men. They threw the man on a metal table and Kaialau beat him with an aluminum baseball bat on his neck, ribs and back.

Several other men joined in the beating. Kaialau left and returned with a microwave oven, which he threw on the victim's head, rendering him unconscious. Kaialau then told another man to kill the two guards, police said.

Nakagawa is accused of repeatedly stabbing the other guard and throwing hot water on him. The man was treated at The Queen's Medical Center for a broken nose, bruised ribs and several cuts.

Police said Nakagawa and Kaialau wore dark blue T-shirts with the letters "HPD" and "POLICE" stenciled on the front and back. Kaialau wore a ski mask to partly cover his face.