Son charged with assault, threatening father’s life in Eden Roc

AKINA
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“Relax, you’re just going to die tonight.”

That allegedly is what 57-year-old Gerald Akina told police officers his son, Mark Nakoa Akina, said to him during a prolonged series of assaults at an Eden Roc residence that took place between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.

The elder Akina told police his son came home to their Paniolo Street trailer drunk and agitated at about 6 p.m. Wednesday evening and held his father captive while assaulting him numerous times, according to court documents filed by police.

The assault reportedly included punches to the face and body, as well as strikes with a guava-wood walking stick and stab wounds to the victim’s lower extremities with a paring knife. Gerald Akina also allegedly suffered a knife wound to the back of his hand while attempting to defend himself.

At one point, Mark Akina wrestled his father to the floor, pinned the older man’s hands down with his knees, and twisted his father’s head as the victim lay supine, according to the documents.

Mark Akina allegedly told his father several times he was going to kill him. Mark Akina also positioned himself by the door, allegedly telling his father, “You ain’t going nowhere.”

At about 3 p.m. on Thursday, Gerald Akina escaped the trailer after punching his son in the nose and ran to a nearby cousin’s home to hide.

Gerald Akina was taken Friday to Hilo Medical Center for treatment, and police took his statement there.

A search of the trailer turned up a guava stick broken in half and a kitchen knife with a 4-inch blade, documents state.

After he was arrested, Mark Akina elected to make a statement and allegedly told police he and his father have a history of arguing and physical fights, and admitted telling his father he was going to kill him.

Mark Akina, who has no prior police record in Hawaii, was charged with kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault, plus first-degree terroristic threatening and domestic abuse.

The most serious charge, kidnapping, is a Class A felony that carries a potential 20-year prison term, upon conviction. The other charges are all Class C felonies with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

At the younger Akina’s initial court appearance, Hilo District Judge Bruce Larson denied a defense motion to reduce his $37,000 bail and ordered him to return Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.