Video from a surveillance camera outside the Honolulu District Court building captured images of a homeless man who kicked an 80-year-old woman in the face at a bus stop in downtown Honolulu, Deputy Prosecutor Scott Spallina told a state judge Thursday.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment against 51-year-old Steven I. Ho, charging him with first-degree assault.
Ho’s bail was $50,000 following his arrest Monday. Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi increased bail to $150,000 Thursday at Spallina’s request.
Spallina told Garibaldi that the 80-year-old woman was sitting at the bus stop when Ho walked up to her and kicked her in the face, knocking the woman to the ground. He said video shows Ho preparing to throw punches before moving out of camera view.
At about the same time, Spallina said, a city bus arrived at the stop, and the driver saw Ho kicking the woman in the head and face as she was on the ground. He said Ho then fled, crossing the street in front of the bus.
Police said they located and detained Ho nearby and that the bus driver identified him as the person who he saw kick the woman. They said Ho identified himself to them as Aaron Kaina.
While in custody, police said Ho told them, “Take me in, I did it.” And when they asked Ho about what appeared to be blood on his foot, police said he told them, “That’s not my blood.”
Police said the woman was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center, where Spallina said she remains in critical condition.
Ho has convictions in the 1980s for felony burglary, robbery and kidnapping and for misdemeanor assault in 2006.
He was charged in June 2015 with another misdemeanor assault. Following his arrest, two Honolulu District Court judges had him removed from their courtrooms on three separate occasions for disruptive behavior. One of them sent the case to state Circuit Court after Ho asked for a jury trial.
A Circuit Court judge ordered Ho committed to the state health director for treatment at the Hawaii State Hospital in October 2015 after determining Ho was not mentally fit to stand trial. A month later the same judge granted the health director’s request to involuntarily medicate Ho.
In the request the health director said Ho had refused to take any medication since his transfer from Oahu Community Correctional Center, causing him to be aggressive, hostile and threatening. The director said Ho punched a hospital staff member in the face and had sneaked up on and assaulted other inmates and staff when he was at OCCC.
Garibaldi dismissed the assault charge against Ho in August after determining that Ho was never going to gain mental fitness to stand trial. She also civilly committed Ho to the health director for placement and treatment at the State Hospital.
Ho’s criminal file does not indicate when the state Health Department released Ho from the State Hospital. A department spokeswoman said privacy laws prohibit the state from disclosing that information. However, the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney says the state Attorney General Department sent correspondence in early October suggesting that Ho could be released sometime after Oct. 28.
