WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The physical abuse case against Maui County’s top civil legal professional could be turned over to the kingdom Attorney General’s Office to analyze, Maui Mayor Mike Victorino said Monday.
Corporation Counsel Patrick Wong, fifty three, became positioned on administrative go away Saturday after officials arrested him at a Wailuku home for abuse of a household member. A spokesman for the Maui Police Department stated Wong changed into released after posting $1,000 bail. The mayor said he become upset through the arrest. “Mr. Wong and I have met. It is an unfortunate incident ― for me, not an incident that I can tolerate,” stated Victorino. “He gave me his facet and I had been capable of meet with the opposite celebration and he or she gave me her aspect and I’m expecting the police to place all of the facts on the table.”
Victorino said he wanted the kingdom Attorney General’s Office to take over the case to prevent any look of a warfare of interest. The Department of Corporation Counsel’s first deputy, Edward Kushi, will fill in for Wong. Wong’s arrest follows a tough confirmation system, all through which a few expressed issues approximately how Wong interacts with body of workers and others. “I assume it type of speaks to the issue about why some of us had worries about public confidence, why we believed folks who got here ahead with tales of intimidation,” said Council Chair Kelly King. Wong become reappointed final month by a five-to-4 vote after Maui Councilwoman Tasha Kama switched her function to assist him. Councilwoman Alice Lee, who voted in favor of Wong, said she became greatly surprised and dismayed by way of the abuse allegation. “We want to get on with the county’s business and I could surmise that the research into the allegations against Mr. Wong would take pretty some time,” she stated. “I consider in the nice hobby of moving the county ahead, perhaps he should take into account stepping down.” Councilwoman Keani Ralwins-Fernandez opposed Wong’s affirmation. “It took home violence, seen accidents on a terrible lady’s frame, for the council to peer the fact about him,” she stated.