4 arrested in attack on homeless man

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Four teens have been arrested in connection with an attack on a homeless man Thursday night that left the victim in critical condition with a stab wound.

The man, who has not been identified by police, was upgraded to guarded condition yesterday at the Queen's Medical Center.

Police also have not identified the teens who allegedly beat and stabbed the victim near the corner of Iwilei and North King streets at about 8 p.m.

Lynn Maunakea, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, O'ahu's only emergency shelter for the homeless, called the attack "ugly" and likened it to a hate crime.

"This is extreme," Maunakea said. "I've read about things like this more in other places. Here (the homeless) are often harassed," but not usually victims of violent crime, she said.

Hate crimes are defined as those in which attackers pick victims based on hatred of a particular race, religion, disability, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

According to a study released in April by the National Coalition for the Homeless, 123 homeless people across the nation were murdered by non-homeless people from 1999 to 2002 — beaten, stabbed, shot or set on fire. There were 212 nonlethal assaults during the same period, the study said.

The coalition has been lobbying several states and the federal government to study violence against the homeless and designate such attacks as hate crimes, which would bring stiffer penalties.

Police Maj. Michael Tucker said no motive had been determined for the attack Thursday, but it could be a hate crime. Attacks on homeless people in Hawai'i are not common, he said.

"We have more homeless-on-homeless victimization than we do assaults by others, because they get in their turf battles about 'this is my spot' or even 'my girlfriend,' " Tucker said.

"Homeless don't get robbed a lot, because they don't have anything to steal. There is a fair amount of (abuse), because people look down on them and don't respect the situation they are in."

Maunakea said the victim once was a client at IHS, but the attack did not take place at the shelter — although some television reports about the attack showed the IHS women's shelter.

The shelter has been almost free of violence, she said.

At least one group canceled plans to volunteer at the shelter after seeing the report, Maunakea said.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.