Esenitani "Leo" Tangatailoa continues to be held at the Maui Community Correctional Center in lieu of $345,000 bail. Second Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza said last week that Tangatailoa's bail would remain in effect during a 90-day period requested by the prosecution to reindict the defendant.

The 37-year-old Lahaina man was arrested in January after fingerprints found at the scene of a Dec. 27 burglary were matched to him, police said.

Glass jalousie louvers were removed from a window to enter the house on Alio Street, which was set on fire after valuables were taken, police said. No one was home at the time.

After his arrest Jan. 9, Tangatailoa initially declined to speak with a police detective about the burglary and fire, saying he wouldn't waive his right to an attorney.

But two days later, after being charged with arson and burglary, he was contacted by two other detectives who wanted to ask him about other arson and burglary cases in Lahaina. This time, Tangatailoa – who was still in police custody – agreed to waive his constitutional rights and talk to the detectives, eventually confessing to three other burglary and arson cases from Oct. 28 to Nov. 28, as well as the Dec. 27 incident and another burglary, according to police.

Tangatailoa told detectives that he set the fires to cover up the burglaries.

He told police he pawned some of the stolen property to get money to buy crystal methamphetamine.

Evidence of his confessions was presented during a preliminary hearing and to grand juries that indicted Tangatailoa.

He had been charged with four counts of first-degree arson, five counts of first-degree burglary, three counts of second-degree theft, two counts of theft of a credit card, fraudulent use of a credit card, third-degree theft and fourth-degree theft.

But his lawyer, Hayden Aluli, challenged the use of Tangatailoa's confessions to obtain indictments, saying police questioned him without a lawyer present even after he had asked for an attorney.

The prosecution didn't oppose the challenge, based on a divided Supreme Court opinion holding that once a suspect asks for a lawyer in one case, his request applies to other cases as well, said Deputy Prosecutor Melinda Mendes.

Cardoza ruled that Tangatailoa's statements to police couldn't be used as evidence in his court cases. But he said he would allow evidence from a waistpack that Tangatailoa dropped while running from police in Lahaina before his arrest Jan. 9.

Last week, with the defense and prosecution in agreement, the judge dismissed four of the burglary and arson cases against Tangatailoa. The dismissals were without prejudice, allowing the prosecution to seek to reindict the defendant, relying on evidence that can be admitted.

Another case, in which Tangatailoa was charged with burglarizing a residence on Kahili Place in December, was dismissed with prejudice at the request of the prosecution. That case was brought based on Tangatailoa's confession. He told police he broke into the home but left when he saw someone inside sleeping, taking a purse as he left.

In court last week, Aluli asked that Tangatailoa be released from jail after spending about eight months incarcerated.

His family planned to seek residential treatment for Tangatailoa, Aluli said.

But Mendes argued that Tangatailoa, a Tongan national, was both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

"What we do know is the defendant is responsible for four arson cases," Mendes said.

"If he's allowed to leave, he will flee to Tonga."

She said the prosecution would review other evidence to present at least one and possibly all four cases to a grand jury.

Occurring at residences on Alio, Wainee and Aki streets and Kahili Place, the burglaries were "in extreme close proximity, evidencing a clear pattern," Mendes said in a court document.

She said Tangatailoa had been to one of the homes and knew the homeowner would be in Las Vegas at the time of the burglary.

Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.