A judge on Thursday declined to reduce bail for a 43-year-old Southern California man accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home, threatening her with a knife and strangling her.
Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach denied the motion by court-appointed defense attorney Francis Alcain for bail reduction for Jerry Rosales after Deputy Prosecutor Kristen Selvig objected.
Laubach maintained bail for the Carson, Calif., man at $118,000, and ordered him to return Monday for a preliminary hearing.
Rosales is charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree terroristic threatening, domestic abuse, domestic abuse aggravated by strangulation and third-degree property damage.
According to court documents filed by police, at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, a woman sleeping in the garage of the Kilauea Avenue home of Rosales’ 42-year-old former girlfriend heard a commotion, entered the home to check on the woman, and witnessed the former couple physically fighting.
The witness told police
she saw Rosales push the woman onto her bed, get on top of her and threaten her with a knife.
According to police, the witness also reported seeing Rosales shake the woman hard and trying to push the victim out of a window.
According to the witness, Rosales told the victim, “I had a knife to your throat. See how easy it would be for me to kill you if I wanted? And nobody could do nothing about it.”
East Hawaii Juvenile Aid detectives determined that Rosales entered the victim’s house through a bedroom window, punched her on her leg with a closed fist, and covered her mouth and nose with his hand — restricting her ability to breathe.
Rosales also allegedly damaged the victim’s cellphone when she attempted to make a call for help.
When police arrived, Rosales reportedly fled the home and was found in the garage of the home next door, which is also owned by his ex-girlfriend, documents state.
The most serious charge, first-degree burglary, is a Class B felony that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.
National crime database checks indicate that Rosales is a convicted felon in California, police said.
As of late Friday afternoon, Rosales remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Anyone who may have witnessed this incident is asked to contact Detective Patrick Aurello at (808) 961-8810, or patrick.aurello@hawaiicounty.gov.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
