Update: Big Island man charged in incident involving woman bound with duct tape gets supervised release

This story was updated at 3:21 p.m. May 2.

A Big Island man was arrested and charged with kidnapping and other charges after a violent incident at an Ocean View residence that involved a woman being bound by duct tape and assaulted.

On Wednesday, 50-year-old Ian Benjamin Winther of Ocean View was charged with kidnapping, felony abuse of a family/household member, third-degree assault and first-degree terroristic threatening in connection with the incident at the end of April.

Kidnapping is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The abuse and terroristic threatening charges are both Class C felony offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.

Winther made his initial court appearance Thursday morning in Kona District Court. Despite objections from prosecutors, he was given supervised release and ordered to appear May 30 for a preliminary hearing.

Just after 4:30 p.m. April 29, Kaʻū Patrol officers responded to the area of King Kalākaua Lane in Ocean View for a report of a 27-year-old Ocean View woman who was assaulted by an acquaintance.

Upon arriving, officers determined the victim had been bound with duct tape and physically assaulted by Winther at a residence on the Ocean View roadway, where she and Winther were staying.

The victim reported that after being bound with duct tape, Winther allowed her to free herself but continued to physically assault her and threatened to perform lewd sex acts on her.

Winther then used rope to tie the victim to a chair, continuing to threaten and physically assault her. He then left the residence, with the victim still tied to the chair.

The victim was able to free herself and leave the residence to get help at a neighboring residence. She sustained non-life-threatening injuries and sought medical treatment on her own.

At about 6:30 a.m. April 30, while officers were at the scene awaiting detectives to obtain a search warrant, they saw Winther walking toward them. He was taken into custody while detectives from the Hawai’i Police Department Area II Criminal Investigation Section and Juvenile Aid Section continued their investigation.

A search warrant was executed Wednesday at the Ocean View residence, resulting in the recovery of items thought to be used in the incident.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Donovan Kohara at 808-960-3118 or via email at [email protected]. You can also call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 808-935-3311.

Those who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300.