Charges pile up
for suspect in
Punchbowl shooting
An 18-year-old man charged with attempted murder in a June 26 Punchbowl burglary and shooting was indicted by an Oahu grand jury yesterday on 13 new charges mostly related to a string of burglaries he allegedly committed before the shooting.
Miti "Junior" Maugaotega Jr., who is being held at Oahu Community Correctional Center, was indicted on 12 charges stemming from four home burglaries between May 23 and June 23.
The 13th charge, promoting prison contraband, was allegedly committed while he was in juvenile detention on Aug. 17 for the Punchbowl shooting.
Maugaotega was a minor when he allegedly committed the shooting, burglaries, sexual assaults and related crimes that have resulted in 20 adult charges against him.
In August, Family Court Judge Frances Wong ordered that Maugaotega be tried as an adult for allegedly shooting Eric Kawamoto, 43, in the chest during an afternoon burglary of his townhouse on Puowaina Drive.
From that incident, he faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, burglary, robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, two counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of cocaine. If convicted of second-degree attempted murder, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Trial is scheduled for Jan. 12.
On Nov. 26, Maugaotega, who turned 18 on Sept. 29, waived his right to be tried as a minor on the 13 new charges. His arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
Neither Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Ching nor Maugaotega's public defender, Carolyn Brown, could be reached for comment.
Maugaotega had more than 10 arrests as a juvenile, according to police sources.
According to the indictments, Maugaotega broke into a woman's home on Waikahalulu Lane in Kuakini on May 23. The jury indicted him on one count of first-degree burglary. He is also charged with first-degree burglary in a May 28 break-in at a Waikahalulu Lane home.
On June 16, the indictment alleges, Maugaotega broke into a third home on Waikahalulu Lane armed with a semiautomatic weapon and threatened the couple living there.
The jury charged him with first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of carrying, using or threatening to use a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The Waikahalulu homes were not far from where police arrested Maugaotega after the Kawamoto shooting.
On June 23, only three days before the Punchbowl shooting, Maugaotega, this time allegedly armed with a semiautomatic gun, allegedly broke into the apartment of a woman on Kanunu Street. The indictment alleges he raped and sexually assaulted her.
The jury indicted him on two counts of first-degree sexual assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, carrying or threatening to use a firearm, and second-degree assault.