WAILUKU - A 20-year-old Kihei man was sentenced to a six-month jail term for assaulting a woman who was trying to stop a fight at Kalama Park last year.
"She was just trying to be the peacemaker," 2nd Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo told Wyatt Sorenson. "You're the one that went ahead and punched her."
The woman fell to the ground and was in a sitting position when Sorenson hit her on the side of the head with an alcohol bottle the evening of July 8, 2011, Loo said.
"You're lucky you didn't take out an eye or leave a huge disfiguring scar," the judge told Sorenson. "She's still afraid of you."
Deputy Prosecutor Kim Whitworth said the woman was "an innocent bystander" who tried to intervene when her boyfriend and Sorenson got into an altercation.
Sorenson reported being a caregiver for his mother when he was released on supervision following his arrest. But he tested positive for drug use, Whitworth said, and on May 1 police were called to his mother's house because he "became angry and combative when he was told to do chores."
Sorenson also didn't show up to court for his original sentencing date, when he apparently was in Lahaina, Whitworth said. He was later arrested for violating requirements of his release.
In court Oct. 3, Sorenson said he wanted to continue classes to obtain the equivalent of his high school diploma and eventually enroll in college.
As part of his sentence, Sorenson was placed on five years' probation. He was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to complete an anger management program. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
In other cases:
* A 21-year-old Kahului man was sentenced to a 45-day jail term and ordered to help pay $29,562 in restitution for designer bags and jewelry stolen in the burglary of a Kahului home last year.
Kevin Saguid was allowed to serve the jail term on his days off from work starting Nov. 30, after the birth of his child.
Saguid had pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary and second-degree theft in the Nov. 4 break-in at a house on Hina Street. A relative of co-defendant Edward Kaluau lived at the home.
While his attorney said Saguid had acted recklessly, 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said Saguid's conduct was "absolutely intentional."
"Frankly, he comes across as a spoiled young man," Bissen said, noting that Saguid lived with his parents, who both work two jobs.
"You pay more money for your phone than for food," Bissen told Saguid. "That's his priority."
Family heirlooms that can't be replaced were taken in the burglary, with Saguid receiving $400 for the stolen possessions, Bissen said. "You bought a bodyboard and some shorts," the judge told Saguid.
A few months before the burglary, Saguid was convicted of drunken driving, inattention to driving and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, the judge said. In June, while the burglary case was pending, he was arrested and convicted of another drunken driving case, for which he is serving a 10-day jail sentence on weekends.
"What are you thinking?" Bissen asked Saguid.
He was given a chance to keep the latest convictions off his record if he follows court requirements for the next five years. Saguid also was ordered to write a letter apologizing to the victims and to have no contact with them.
Kaluau, 21, was ordered to serve a 45-day jail term and was given a chance to keep convictions off his record when he was sentenced in July.
* A 23-year-old Kahului man was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine after being arrested as part of an investigation into thefts two years ago from the Sears warehouse.
Patrick Gray-Soliben was given a chance to keep a reduced third-degree theft conviction off his record if he follows court requirements for one year.
Gray-Soliben has no criminal record and works full time, said Deputy Public Defender Adriel Menor.
Deputy Prosecutor Kenton Werk said Gray-Soliben was seen receiving two flatscreen televisions from Gregery Au, who was a Sears employee at the time, on April 29, 2010. Gray-Soliben didn't pay for the televisions, Werk said.
"He was caught up in this ongoing series of thefts at the Sears warehouse," Werk said.
Au and Gray-Soliben were among a dozen people charged in the investigation of theft of merchandise from the Sears warehouse between May 26, 2009, and May 26, 2010. Sears began an investigation after finding a $500,000 discrepancy in its merchandise inventory at the warehouse in February and March 2010, according to court records.
Although the value of the stolen merchandise, including appliances and televisions, was estimated at about $900,000, 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza questioned why no restitution has been requested by Sears.
Werk said his inquiries to Sears had gone unanswered.
In sentencing Gray-Soliben on Oct. 2, Cardoza said the defendant's role was "wrong, but very limited."
Gray-Soliben was ordered not to enter Sears locations and parking lots on Maui.
Au was ordered to pay $8,260 in restitution and placed on five years' probation when he was sentenced last month.
* A 34-year-old Kailua man was placed on five years' probation Oct. 2 for a crash in 2008 that badly injured a couple on their honeymoon.
Rodney Orta was driving a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder in the Paia direction on Hana Highway at Mile Marker 2 when the vehicle rear-ended a 2008 Jeep Wrangler that was stopped to turn left into the Twin Falls parking lot in Haiku, according to court records.
An investigation showed Orta was driving 57 to 61 mph in the 35-mph zone, said Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds. He said Orta had marijuana in his system that wasn't from recent use.
Menor said Orta, who was already on probation for drug charges, has been clean and sober for about three years.
Orta had pleaded no contest to first-degree negligent injury.
