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The homeless man who allegedly attacked a tourist on Sunday afternoon at Kuhio Beach was in the hospital Tuesday, recovering from injuries suffered when bystanders piled on him and held him until police arrived. Read more

The homeless man who allegedly attacked a tourist on Sunday afternoon at Kuhio Beach was in the hospital Tuesday, recovering from injuries suffered when bystanders piled on him and held him until police arrived.

Honolulu police arrested Preston Kealii Smith, 30, on Sunday. The man, who is unemployed and has no local address, was charged with third degree assault, criminal contempt of court and revocation or modification of probation conditions. Smith is alleged to have attacked Ashleigh Andreasen, 28, a hair stylist from Mesa, Ariz., who was in town to celebrate her birthday. Smith has been convicted of at least four prior crimes.

Andreasen said Smith attacked her after she tried to stop him from throwing an elderly homeless man’s belongings into the street. Andreasen said she didn’t think about her safety before intervening because the elderly man needed her help.

“I feel heavenly Father told me, ‘He needs you,’” she said.

She said the elderly man had very little and she was heartbroken at the thought of allowing someone to take away the things that he held dear.

Andreasen said she was telling Smith, “It’s not nice to throw someone’s belongings into the street,” when he punched her twice in the face. Andreasen said she passed out from the force of the blows, which knocked her into a palm tree. She suffered a concussion and bruises to her lip, jaw and the side of her ear.

“I was taken to the hospital unconscious. Yeah, it was scary,” said a teary-eyed Andreasen, who was still black and blue on Wednesday. “But I don’t regret it. I would do it again. He (the elderly man) wasn’t able to defend himself and I did what I needed to do to get his belongings back.”

A video of the incident shows a crowd of bystanders holding Smith on the ground until police arrived.

Samantha Torres, a Dive Oahu &Surf intern who witnessed the incident, called it disturbing.

“I’m from Jersey beach and I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life,” Torres said. “It was such an aggressive beach fight. It went on about 15 to 20 minutes, but it seemed like it was forever.”

Andreasen returned to Kuhio Beach Wednesday and found the elderly man, who she called Richard, right where she left him. The two embraced, and Richard, who declined to give his full name, expressed his gratitude.

“I’m homeless on the beach right now,” he said. “I’ve been here over 15 years. It can be dangerous. What she did truly meant a lot. It’s the first time anyone has come to my defense.”

Court records show that Smith is wanted for more than $20,000 in outstanding warrants. According to court documents, he pleaded no contest to a theft in the fourth degree charge stemming from a Feb. 4, 2015 incident at Walmart. He also pleaded no contest twice to separate harassment charges, one stemming from a June 4, 2015 incident and another stemming from a July 18, 2016 incident. On Jan. 10, 2008, he entered a guilty plea for robbery in the second degree and was sentenced to five years of probation, 300 hours of community service, a $200 fine, and one year of jail with credit for time served. At the time, the state also elected not to prosecute a related charge of felony kidnapping.

According to court records, Smith is part of Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE), a probation program started in 2004 by First Circuit Judge Steven Alm that aims to reduce probation violations by drug offenders and others at high risk of recidivism. The Hawaii State Judiciary website said the program, which is unique to Hawaii, offers probationers “swift, predictable, and immediate sanctions — typically resulting in several days in jail – for each detected violation, such as detected drug use or missed appointments with a probation officer.”

Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Jeff Merz said he was heartened to hear about Andreasen’s display of the aloha spirit. But he’s frustrated by the attack, which is just the latest in a string of daytime attacks on evidently innocent victims. He’s also concerned because the suspect was a member of the tourist district’s growing homeless population and had a criminal record with several similar prior incidents.

“She got beat up at Kuhio Beach in the middle of the afternoon. That’s unacceptable,” Merz said. “I’ve noticed there’s a lot more aggression out there lately. My husband and I were at the McDonald’s near Hobron on Sunday evening and a homeless guy was screaming racial slurs at us.”

Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Bob Finley said police have done a good job responding to requests from Waikiki stakeholders to step up enforcement. However, Finely said that the court system needs to ensure that potential offenders face consequences that are great enough to deter them.

“I think the police do a pretty good job of arresting people who commit crimes, but they tend to get sentenced to probation or a slap on the hand,” Finley said. “If we don’t start putting these people in jail, they will continue to do this madness.”

Andreasen said, “We could all use a little more compassion in our lives.”