A 57-year-old man pleaded not guilty to breaking historic etched glass panes at Iolani Palace.
Michael L. Aquino appeared at his arraignment at Circuit Court on Thursday via closed-circuit video link from Oahu Community Correctional Center.
A deputy public defender pleaded not guilty on Aquino’s behalf to charges of first-degree criminal property damage to glass panes of three palace doors and second-degree criminal property damage to a glass door to the House chambers at the state Capitol.
Judge Colette Garibaldi confirmed Aquino’s bail at $100,000 and set his trial for August.
On the afternoon of May 28, a palace guard observed Aquino allegedly using a metal pipe to break glass panes on the mauka side of the palace. He then allegedly broke a glass door at the House chambers before state sheriffs arrested him.
An Oahu grand jury indicted him June 1 on the criminal property damage charges.
Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of the Friends of Iolani Palace, said the group received a report Wednesday that indicated the appraised value of the three original etched panes totaled $375,000.
De Alba Chu said they expect to receive an estimate on repair costs by the end of the month before they move forward with repair work.
Fire put out at Monsanto mulch piles
Two giant mulch piles at the Monsanto agricultural lot burned Thursday afternoon in Kapolei.
The Fire Department sent nine units with 24 personnel after numerous calls. The first call came in at 3:29 p.m., and the fire was contained by 4:15 p.m.
Flames and smoke from two huge mulch piles, each 10 feet tall and 300 feet long, were visible to motorists on the Kualakai Parkway, fire Capt. David Jenkins said.
The fire was just mauka of the Kroc Center.
The cause was undetermined as of Thursday afternoon.
5 escape Ewa Beach house blaze
Five people, alerted by a smoke alarm, safely escaped a house fire Thursday afternoon in Ewa Beach.
Firefighters were called to the 4:37 p.m. fire at 91-996 Awawalei Place.
The first fire unit arrived at 4:42 p.m. and found smoke coming from the closed garage of a single-story house.
Eighteen firefighters fought the flames and prevented them from spreading to the rest of the house.
The blaze was brought under control by 4:52 p.m. and extinguished by 5:02 p.m.
The fire was contained to the garage.
The cause and damage estimate have not been determined yet.
