A 25-year-old Kaneohe man accused of setting his girlfriend on fire had previously threatened to do so while holding a cup of gasoline, said Deputy Prosecutor Nicole Kalakau.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging the man, Bobby Young-Townsend, with attempted murder, arson, terroristic threatening, unlawfully entering a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.
Circuit Court Judge Richard Perkins confirmed bail at $1 million for Young-Townsend, who has been in custody since his arrest last week.
Kalakau told the judge that when Young-Townsend set his girlfriend on fire in Kahaluu on Jan. 18, he also set fire to the minivan she was sitting in. After rolling on the ground to douse the flames, the woman was helped into a car by passers-by, who called 911 and took her to a nearby store. Kalakau said the passers-by brought the woman a bottle of water for her burns while waiting for an ambulance.
When Honolulu police located Young-Townsend in Kailua last Thursday, Kalakau said, he was hiding in the back seat of a stolen car. She said Young-Townsend refused to exit the vehicle, forcing police to break into the car to apprehend him. During the arrest Kalakau said Young-Townsend kicked one of the officers with both feet multiple times.
Kalakau said Young-Townsend has been in an on-and-off relationship with the victim for about a year and he had allegedly threatened to set her on fire in 2015.
According to state court records, Young-Townsend abused or assaulted other women.
A state judge issued a restraining order against him in 2008 to prevent him from further abusing another girlfriend. The order was in effect until the girlfriend turned 18 the following year.
That same girlfriend filed for and was granted another restraining order against Young-Townsend in 2011. The order is in effect until December.
Young-Townsend pleaded guilty in 2012 to violating the restraining order. A state judge sentenced him to two years of probation and ordered him to attend a domestic violence intervention class. In 2014, that same judge revoked Young-Townsend’s probation for violating the terms of his release and re-sentenced him to 181 days in jail.
In July, Young-Townsend pleaded guilty to assaulting a different girlfriend. A state judge sentenced him to a year of probation, 90 days of which he had to spend in jail, and ordered him to undergo domestic violence intervention.
There is no record of Young-Townsend completing either of the two domestic violence classes he had been ordered to attend.
Young-Townsend pleaded guilty in June to auto theft and was granted a four-year deferral. Twelve days before setting his latest victim on fire, he was released after spending two days in jail for violating the terms of his release.
