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POSTED: Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Palace break-in figure is fugitive

One of two men charged with assault during last summer's Iolani Palace break-in is a fugitive.

A state judge revoked Donald Love-Boltz's $5,000 bail and issued a $25,000 warrant for his arrest Friday because he left the jurisdiction without court permission.

Love-Boltz, 73, is charged with second-degree assault for allegedly swinging a heavy iron gate that struck a palace employee Aug. 15. Love-Boltz denies striking Betty Jean Noelani Ah Yuen. He said someone else was swinging the gate and he pulled her out of the way to prevent the gate from injuring her.

He said he was at Iolani Palace to help a group calling itself Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, reclaim what it lost in the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. His lawyer, Walter Rodby, told the court he has been in contact with Love-Boltz by cellular telephone. And he said Love-Boltz told him he returned to the mainland because he and his wife are sick.

 

Ex-captain accused of $400,000 theft

A former Schofield Barracks officer accused of stealing $400,000 from the Army while he was on deployment in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty yesterday to six federal felony charges.

David S. Gilliam 39, appeared in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on charges of theft of government property, bulk cash smuggling, interstate and foreign transportation of stolen money, money laundering and making false statements to federal officers.

The theft occurred while the former Army captain was on duty as a disbursing officer with Alpha Detachment, 125th Finance Battalion, according to the indictment issued Feb. 11.

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said Gilliam smuggled the stolen cash to Hawaii, where he used it in several financial transactions. He told federal officers that the source of cash he used to purchase a $254,000 cashier's check came from a dating service he had operated while stationed with the Army at Fort Clay in Panama, according to a news release.

Gilliam now lives South Carolina. May 12 is his trial date.