Man indicted in camp
hate-crime attack

KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii >> A Big Island grand jury has indicted Kona resident Henry "Puka" Bell, 22, on 13 charges connected with a nighttime attack on campers at Makalawena Beach in North Kona on July 10.

The indictment earlier this month listed 13 alleged offenses, nine of them felonies allegedly motivated by one or more factors that constitute a "hate crime" under Hawaii law. The factors include a crime motivated by race or ethnicity.

At a preliminary hearing for Bell, it was revealed that some victims reported hearing attackers make comments such as, "We're going to f-- up you haoles," The hearing did not directly link Bell to those comments.

Police identified Bell as one of 11 people who participated in the attack. They charged him with the greatest number of offenses and set the highest bail for him among the 11, $18,000.

Bell is free on bail, said deputy prosecutor Cynthia Tai.

The preliminary hearing for Bell started on July 19 and was scheduled to continue tomorrow, but the indictment stops the hearing process.

During the hearing, Officer Dale Veloria testified that three other suspects said they saw Bell participate in the attack. But Veloria testified that none of the three mentioned that Bell made racial comments.

The indictment charges Bell with three counts of assault, two counts of terroristic threatening, two counts of unauthorized entry in a motor vehicle, two counts of theft, two counts of criminal property damage, rioting and resisting arrest.

Under Hawaii law, if a person is found to be motivated by one of the hate-crime factors in the law while committing a crime, the penalty for that crime is doubled.

Since the highest penalty Bell would otherwise face is 10 years in prison, with the hate-crime factor he would face 20 years.