WAILUKU - Bail was increased to $511,000 for a homeless man charged with attempted murder in an assault on another man in a restroom at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center last week.
During an initial appearance Monday in Wailuku District Court, Thomas Abraham, 38, also was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
The assault was reported at 4:36 p.m. Friday, with mall security officers intervening as Abraham was sitting on the victim's chest and choking him in the restroom near the mall food court, police said.
Article Photos
Abraham
"This was a random and unprovoked attack," Deputy Prosecutor John Tam said Monday, in asking that Abraham's bail be increased from $100,000. "It was so severe and so savage."
In addition to second-degree attempted murder, Abraham is charged with second and third-degree assault of the 42-year-old man.
Police said the man was attacked from behind, with Abraham punching and using a pair of scissors to stab the victim in the back of the head.
In addition to punching, choking and stabbing the victim, Abraham tried to gouge the man's eyes out, Tam said.
Police said the victim began losing consciousness and suffered hemorrhaged blood vessels in his eyes, bruises around his neck from being choked and lacerations on the back of his head.
Police said that the victim was checked by medics at the scene and was in stable condition when he went to the Maui Memorial Medical Center emergency room for additional treatment.
Abraham and the victim don't know each other, police said. Tam said Abraham has been on Maui for a month or two, arriving from the Mainland. Abraham has no residence, no employment and no family ties on Maui, Tam said.
Judge Adrianne Heely granted the prosecution's request, increasing Abraham's bail to $511,000.
