Video: Mothers, daughters fight at Hilo beach park leads to violent retaliation and 6 arrests

Just before sunset on Monday, a fight broke out between mothers and daughters at the parking lot of Kealoha Beach Park in Hilo.

That incident led to a violent retaliation at another section of the park, in which a group of six men assaulted three teenaged boys in a car, with one man smashing the back of the car with a baseball bat.

The retaliation turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

Click here to watch video of fight between moms and daughters and retaliation assault.

Two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old were injured and the car was severely damaged. Six people were arrested in connection to the attack on the teens, Hawaiʻi Island police said in a press release.

Astania Caputo said her daughter and boyfriend had driven her 2015 Honda sedan to the park and were followed by a couple of friends in a separate vehicle. When they got to the beach parking lot, they saw the fight that began between two teen girls and ultimately ended up including their mothers.

One video shows a teenaged girl trying to continue a fight with another teenaged girl. Thatʻs when the mother of the teenaged girl trying not to fight steps in. The mother says “pau,” there would be no more fighting.

In another video, the other teenagersʻ mother is seen picking a fight with the other mom. The two mother can be seen violently tugging each other by the hair.

From what she has learned about the incident, Caputo said the fight between the daughters and mothers got bad to the point where someone was injured. As a result, someone called for family members to come to the park to help.

Caputo said her daughter and friends had left the area of the fight to go to a different part of the park. While her daughter left to go use the restroom, her boyfriend and three friends waited for her to return.

Caputo said the teens in her car were caught in the crossfire when someone mistakenly identified one of the boys as someone present at the fight between the daughters and mothers.

Another video of the incident shows six men encircling the car with one of them smashing the back window of Caputo’s car with a bat.

“They opened the doors and beat on innocent minors,” Caputo said.

One of the 17-year-old victims told police one man opened the door where he was seated, pulled him out of the vehicle by his legs, and onto the ground. The victim was then struck multiple times by several men, with one person pulling a gold chain from his neck before leaving the area.

Medics arrived and the teen was taken to Hilo Medical Center where he was treated for bruising, swelling to his eye, and lacerations to his head, shoulder and an ear. The two other juvenile victims did not seek medical care at the time of this incident, but were observed to be injured, according to police.

The vehicle the teens were sitting in sustained damages by the suspects, including a broken rear glass window, a flat tire and multiple vehicle dents.

“These people acted out of ignorance and anger,” Caputo said. “If that were a car full of nuns they still would’ve attacked.”

While the attack on the kids in her vehicle was shocking, Caputo said, it’s not surprising as more of this type of behavior is being seen across the country,

“We just happened to be a part of it and it’s a damn shame,” Caputo said.

Police investigated the incident and determined 45-year-old Lanakila Poaha of Hilo was involved in the incident. He was located and arrested on Monday night at his Hilo residence.

Police identified five additional suspects, including two sets of fathers and sons, and arrested them for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, which is considered a felony offense. They are:

• Cy Poaha, 21, of Hilo, (son of Lanakila Poaha)
• Joshua Godbolt, 40, of Kurtistown
• Alize Godbolt, 18, of Kurtistown (son of Joshua Godbolt)
• Justin Godbolt-Agustin, 24, of Kurtistown (son of Joshua Godbolt)
• Micah Castro, 21, of Kea‘au

All six men remain in police custody as police continue their investigation into the incident. Police are expected to seek a charging decision in the felony investigation on Wednesday. The offenses include entering into a vehicle to commit a crime against person or property rights, assault, criminal property damage and robbery for taking the necklace by force.

“Incidents like this are not what our island is about,” aid Lt. Zachary Fernando, of HPD’s Area I Criminal Investigation Section. “It is a public safety issue when members of the public cannot enjoy a weekend at a beach park.”

Noting that videos of this incident surfaced on social media, police are asking anyone who has video evidence or information regarding this incident to come forward and provide that information to Det. Jeremy Kubojiri of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section at 808-961-2378, or via email at Jeremy.Kubojiri@hawaiicounty.gov.
 
Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.