44-year-old who allegedly assaulted 2 Big Island police officers was out on bail for beating a man with a stick
While being taken to jail, Justin Santagati injured two officers who both were treated at Hilo Benioff Medical Center, according to court documents.
A man from Mountain View is facing charges for allegedly assaulting two Hawai‘i Island police officers at a shopping center in Puna on Sept. 18, with both needing treatment at Hilo Benioff Medical Center.
A female officer suffered a left occipital hematoma and a concussion and a male officer suffered a bruise to his chest, according to court documents.
The suspect, 44-year-old Justin Santagati, was out on bail for a November case in which he is accused of beating a man with a large stick.
Santagati appeared in Hilo District Court on Monday for the assault case involving the officers. Judge M. Kanani Laubach denied the defense’s request to grant him release on his recognizance or supervised release.
Santagati’s bail was maintained at $41,000, and he is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing in the case.
Santagati has been out on bail since March in the Third Circuit Court case involving the assault against a man with the large stick, where he faced second-degree assault as well as a criminal trespassing charge. He was scheduled to enter a change of plea in the case on Nov. 12.
According to court documents relating to the Sept. 18 incident, a 47-year-old woman called police for help after she had picked up Santagati at around 4:30 p.m. from the Hilo Safeway to give him a ride. She was running errands in Hilo Town.
During those errands, the woman indicated that Santagati began making demands, stating something to the effect of “No, we’re not going there anymore; you’re going to take me here.”
According to court documents, these comments made the woman feel alarmed and afraid for her safety, so she called police when Santagati got out of her vehicle and went into Foodland Kea‘au.
When Hawai‘i Island police officers arrived and met the woman, Santagati walked up from the area near Pizza Hut and began yelling at her something to the effect of “You called the police on me?” according to court documents.
“Santagati began to posture to officers while saying things something ot the effect of, ‘I don’t need to listen ot you!'” court documents read.
Santagati continued to be combative as the two officers took the 44-year-old into custody.
After being detained, court documents indicate Santagati began yelling at the woman, claiming he knew where she lived and asking how she could do this to him, which caused her to fear for her safety.
As the officers attempted to place Santagati in the police vehicle, he began resisting by “flailing and utilizing his legs to push against the vehicle’s doors and stop officers from placing him inside.”
Once Santagati was inside the vehicle, he reportedly pushed his legs against the rear passenger-side door in an attempt to prevent officers from closing it.
One of the officers reached over to remove the 44-year-old’s legs from the door, Santagati headbutted the back of her head, causing pain, nausea and dizziness, according to the probable cause statement.
Officers managed to close the vehicle doors, but Santagati began kicking the marked vehicle’s safety barrier.
The second officer at the scene opened the rear driver-side door to place Santagati upright. At that point, the suspect reportedly kicked the officer twice in the chest.
