A 33-year-old Pahoa man suspected of threatening a Hilo judge pleaded not guilty Tuesday to more than three dozen offenses.
Hilo District Judge Barbara Takase ordered Ronald J. Kong to appear for trial at 9 a.m. May 31 before Kona Circuit Judge Melvin Fujino in Hilo.
Fujino will preside because both Hilo circuit judges, Greg Nakamura and Glenn Hara, have recused themselves from hearing the case.
A Hilo grand jury returned a 39-count indictment Feb. 10 against Kong for offenses including explosives, numerous firearms and drug offenses, plus burglary, driving a stolen vehicle, domestic abuse, terroristic threatening, assault and unlawful imprisonment.
Kong allegedly threatened a Hilo circuit judge Jan. 11, but he hasn’t been arrested for or charged with that. It is also unclear which judge was the alleged target. Police issued two wanted bulletins for Kong, on Jan. 11 and 14, and he was taken into custody Jan. 19 at an Ainaloa subdivision home after a weeklong manhunt.
According to court documents, Kong’s 31-year-old girlfriend, Maryellan Higa, told police Kong forced her into a stolen truck on Jan. 4. She reportedly said he kicked her in the right side, grabbed her hair and forced her into the truck’s cab. Then, she said, Kong drove to Panaewa Park, pulled out a black .22-caliber handgun and told Higa if she left him, he would shoot her.
A doctor said Higa suffered a fractured rib, documents state.
Police stopped the truck Jan. 12 after spotting it on Volcano Highway near Kukui Camp Road, but Kong allegedly ran into thick brush and got away.
Officers took the stolen vehicle into evidence and searched it, allegedly finding an improvised explosive device, which was disarmed by bomb squad technicians, a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun with a round in the chamber and four more in the barrel, a .22-caliber rifle with a round in the chamber and a .22-caliber pistol with a round in the chamber and 11 in the magazine.
Kong’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Patrick Munoz, asked Takase to reduce Kong’s bail of $359,500, saying Kong cannot make the “high bail.”
Deputy Prosecutor Craig Masuda requested bail be maintained. He noted the explosive and firearms charges and the alleged assault, saying “bones were fractured.”
“I’m going to confirm the bail for now,” the judge said, citing the number of charges Kong is facing.
“You can request a bail reduction before Judge Fujino,” Takase told Munoz.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.