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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, March 18, 2006

Investigator at city prosecutor’s office indicted

Advertiser Staff

An investigator with the city prosecutor's office has been indicted by the O'ahu grand jury on theft charges involving what his lawyer says is the storage of equipment and ammunition at his Mililani home.

Craig C. Whang, who is on stress leave from his job, was charged with four felony counts and one misdemeanor count accusing him of stealing ammunition and equipment from 2001 to 2003.

Michael Green, Whang's law-yer, said Whang isn't guilty of the charges and suggested that the prosecution stemmed from Whang's concerns about what he believed to be a propensity for workplace violence by his supervisor.

In 2004, Whang filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Prosecutor Peter Carlisle and others in the office. The suit said Whang was demoted after he submitted a memo about his workplace violence concerns and later went on work-related stress leave in 2003.

Carlisle and others named in the suit have denied the allegations. The suit is still pending.

"This case stems from a guy who was concerned about workplace violence," Green said of the indictment that was returned on Wednesday. "As a result of that, his career is over."

Green also said authorities knew for years that Whang stored ammunition at his house.

Deputy Attorney General Lance Goto said his office was not involved in any internal employment matters at the prosecutor's office and not involved with Whang's civil lawsuit.

"Those matters are totally independent of the criminal prosecution," Goto said.

Each of the four felony counts carries a maximum five-year prison term. The misdemeanor count carries up to a year in jail.

A bench warrant was issued for Whang's arrest, with bail set at $5,000.