Opinion ID: 2584196
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Factual Background And Charging

Text: On the morning of August 1, 2003, Plichta was in front of a store in a strip mall on Sand Island Access Road, located in the City and County of Honolulu. People in the store heard car alarms outside, so a customer, Jonathan Jepson, left the store to check on his car, whereupon he was confronted by Plichta, who demanded his car keys. Jepson refused and returned to the store, where a store employee, Jason Reed, called the police. Plichta damaged the passenger side window of Jepson's car and proceeded down the strip mall striking a number other vehicles with a hatchet. Reed walked toward Plichta, telling him to leave and that he had called the police. He observed that Plichta was very agitated and had long, wild hair, and dilated, bloodshot eyes. In Reed's view, Plichta appeared to be under the influence of an intoxicant. Plichta refused to leave, claiming that he would liberate himself and Reed. Consequently, Reed returned immediately to the store. After a delivery van parked at the strip mall, Plichta pulled a handtruck out of the back of the vehicle's bay and threw it into the street. The driver of the van, Hilarion R. Sayson, Jr., exited the vehicle to investigate and, as he was approaching the back of the van, Plichta sprayed him in the face with pepper spray, causing him to fall to his knees. As Sayson began to stand up, Plichta sprayed him in the face a second time. When Plichta left momentarily, Reed, accompanied by firemen, carried Sayson to safety. Plichta returned and entered the van. At this point, officers from the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) began to arrive and Reed informed them that Plichta was in the van, prompting an officer to position his vehicle in front of the van. Plichta backed the van out of the parking stall and accelerated vigorously for approximately sixty to seventy feet into the police cruiser, knocking it back roughly fifteen feet. Plichta reversed the van several feet and again accelerated into the police cruiser. Ten seconds later, an additional four police cars arrived on the scene, and Plichta exited the van and attempted to escape on foot. Plichta fled behind the store, pursued by four officers, and continued down the street. At one point, he turned around and sprayed two of the officers with pepper spray, one directly in the face. Nevertheless, the officers continued their pursuit of Plichta to a nearby store, when he again turned around to spray them, but, this time, as he was turning, he tripped and fell, and the officers detained him. They handcuffed Plichta and informed him that he was under arrest, to which Plichta responded that he was the President of the United States, the chief of police, and part of an international agency and that the officers were all in trouble. In response to the officers' questions about his name, address, social security number, and birth date, Plichta said that he had been smoking ice a few hours before. At this point, Plichta was twitching repeatedly and attempting to wiggle out of the handcuffs. On August 7, 2003, Plichta was charged with the seven counts set forth supra, in addition to a count of first degree criminal property damage, in violation of HRS  708-820(1)(a) (Supp.2003) [7] (Count VI).