Alleged gunman arrested in McCully

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A man accused of pulling a gun on a group of young people in the parking lot of a McCully restaurant early Sunday morning faces between five and 40 yearsin prison if he is convicted on a federal methamphetamine charge, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said yesterday.

Kubo said authorities believe Michael Anglin, 32, sped into the Zippy's parking lot straight to a group of youths who were talking and confronted them with a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol.

A police officer on special duty arrested Anglin. Kubo said Anglin was found to be in possession of a small amount of cocaine, about 108 grams of methamphetamine — described by Kubo as "clearly a dealership amount" with an estimated street value of $32,400 — drug paraphernalia and approximately $2,300 in cash.

He said Anglin was taken to state court in pending, unrelated cases and is now in federal custody.

"This case brings together all of my concerns about a disturbing trend I see in Hawai'i today," Kubo said. "There was an illegal possession of dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine — ice. There was an illegal firearm possession. There was an emotional confrontation. And we are dealing with an individual who has been arrested 43 times, although it has only resulted in a handful of misdemeanor convictions."

Kubo said that in the past 13 months, his office has charged more than 60 people with illegal gun possession in each of Hawai'i's four counties.

"This represents a more than 300 percent increase in Hawai'i federal firearms prosecutions from prior years," Kubo said.