A pair of Ocean View men were indicted Monday by a Kailua-Kona grand jury for allegedly taking an acquaintance’s truck while armed with a firearm and a machete.
The five-count indictment charges 65-year-old Alvin W.K. Cho and 52-year-old Lee Todd Mallon with first-degree robbery, kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening, third-degree assault and third-degree theft.
The most serious offense, kidnapping, is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment. First-degree robbery is a Class B felony that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.
According to court documents filed by police, on Oct. 29, Mallon allegedly pointed either an assault rifle or shotgun at the victim, described as a 65-year-old “friend,” on a Paradise Parkway driveway. The victim told police he was forced at gunpoint to push a bicycle to Cho’s Koa Lane home, where Cho was allegedly swinging a machete around.
At some point, Cho reportedly obtained control of the gun and struck the victim in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. When the victim regained consciousness, Mallon allegedly struck him with the flat side of the machete blade on the top of the head.
The duo allegedly took the victim’s truck keys — claiming the victim owed one or both of them money for it — as well as his cellphone and an undisclosed amount of money. The victim wasn’t seriously injured.
Documents state that Mallon is a convicted felon and a career criminal and has nine felony convictions — six of which are firearms-related offenses.
A search of court records by the Tribune-Herald turned up no prior felony convictions for Cho.
Bench warrants accompanying the indictments set bail for both Mallon and Cho at $57,000.
Cho was arrested Thursday on the bench warrant and appeared Friday in Kona Circuit Court, where his bail was maintained. It’s unclear if he entered a plea to the charges.
Cho is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
As of Friday, Mallon hadn’t been arrested on the outstanding bench warrant.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
