Charges have been dropped against one suspect in a brutal home invasion-style auto theft early last month in Hawaiian Beaches subdivision, and another suspect is free while he awaits a preliminary hearing.
Ikaika-Renken Gonsalves, 30, of Pahoa was charged Feb. 11 with first-degree robbery for being one of two men who allegedly beat a 55-year-old Hawaiian Beaches man unconscious and stole his car from his carport in the early morning hours of Jan. 5.
Renken-Gonsalves, whom police had been looking for since the day of the robbery, made his initial appearance in court on Feb. 11 and was ordered by Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach to appear for a preliminary hearing at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
Renken-Gonsalves was freed on his own recognizance over the objection of Deputy Prosecutor Cameron Takamura, according to court records.
An alleged accomplice, 29-year-old Spencer AhNee, failed to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 4 after having been freed on supervised release without cash bail.
After Laubach denied a motion to dismiss the case by AhNee’s court-appointed attorney, Melody Parker, prosecutors filed a written motion six days later to dismiss a first-degree robbery charge and two counts of second-degree assault against AhNee, pending further investigation of the case.
On Wednesday, the court dismissed the charges against AhNee without prejudice, which means prosecutors are free to refile them, court records indicate.
According to court documents filed by police, the victim told police he was in his carport at about 12:08 a.m. when Renken-Gonsalves, an acquaintance, walked up the driveway and asked, “Where’s my money?”
The victim told Renken-Gonsalves he didn’t owe him money and asked him to leave, documents state. At that point, the victim saw another man he identified only as “Spencer,” a friend of Renken-Gonsalves’ who the victim later identified as AhNee from a photographic lineup.
The victim said Renken-Gonsalves grabbed him and dragged him to the rear of his home and struck him multiple times in the head and chest with his fists, while “Spencer” beat the victim’s face and rib cage with an instrument he believed to be a metal baseball bat, according to documents.
The beating broke a bone in the victim’s face and allegedly continued until he lost consciousness.
Documents state that when the victim regained consciousness, his entire body was in pain, and his 2014 Nissan Altima was missing from the carport.
He reportedly told police he thought he had the keys with him at the time of the attack.
A neighbor witnessed the attack and called 911, but couldn’t identify the assailants, according to documents.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.