Update: Bail Reduced for N. Kohala Man Charged With First-Degree Assault

Update: A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Gabriel Mendoza on Monday in Kona District Court. However, the prosecutor’s office requested it be continued due to time constraints. The judge granted the continuation and the preliminary hearing is now scheduled for Sept. 15.

Mendoza made his initial appearance after his arrest on Aug. 26 where the judge granted a reduction in bail from $25,000 to $5,000.

Original story:

A Big Island man faces a felony assault charge stemming from an altercation earlier this month at a Kailua-Kona bar.

Hawai‘i Island police on Aug. 24 located and arrested 21-year-old Gabriel E. Mendoza of North Kohala. After conferring with the county prosecutors office, Mendoza was charged with first-degree assault in connection with the early morning incident.

Kona patrol officers responded at 1 a.m. Aug. 13 to a report of a possible stabbing at a bar in the 75-5000 block of Ali‘i Drive in Kailua-Kona. Officers located the victim, an adult male employee of the establishment, and observed him to have a puncture-type stab wound to his abdomen.

The victim confirmed being stabbed by an unknown younger male who had been denied entry into the establishment for providing false identification. The victim was treated by medics at the scene, transported to Kona Community Hospital for further treatment and later released.

Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigation Section continued the investigation and identified Mendoza as the person allegedly responsible for the stabbing.

Mendoza’s bail was set at $25,000. His initial court appearance was Aug. 26 in Kona District Court.