WAILUKU – Former Maui County mayoral candidate Beau Hawkes, who was seen being Tasered as he ran from a police officer in a video that went viral, was sentenced Monday to a 30-day jail term for disregarding the officer’s orders and driving away from a traffic stop last year.
“A pretty routine traffic stop was totally blown out of proportion,” 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said as he sentenced Hawkes.
“You were the person most injured in all of this,” the judge told Hawkes. “But you were also the driving force behind all of this. You brought it on and for some reason couldn’t let it go. It went from bad to worse.”
Hawkes, 34, of Haiku was driving a pickup truck that had no license plates or safety sticker when he was stopped by officer Lance Yorita shortly before 8 a.m. July 23 while heading downhill on Haleakala Highway.
Hawkes said he didn’t need a driver’s license because he was a private citizen and refused to give his name before driving off, according to testimony at his trial in December.
About an hour later, Yorita went to the Wailuku courthouse, where Hawkes had said he was heading, and found Hawkes’ truck in a nearby parking lot. When Yorita saw Hawkes walking near the prosecutor’s office, the officer told Hawkes he was under arrest for the earlier traffic stop.
Hawkes put his hands up and said he didn’t do anything wrong. When Yorita grabbed Hawkes’ shirt collar and tried to turn him around to handcuff him, Hawkes broke free and ran down Wells Street. After warning Hawkes, Yorita deployed his Taser, which hit Hawkes in the middle of his back, causing him to fall face first to the ground.
In the trial, a 2nd Circuit Court jury found Hawkes guilty as charged of resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle, failing or refusing to comply with a lawful order of a police officer and not having motor vehicle insurance.
In court Monday, Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Glen recommended the 30-day jail term and one year’s probation for Hawkes.
“He showed no respect for the law,” Glen said.
She said his criminal history shows he can follow requirements of probation, noting he served four years’ probation for felony drug convictions in Idaho.
Hawkes, who chose to forgo an attorney and represent himself in court, asked not to be sent to jail. He said jail would be a hardship not only for him but for his wife, children and the nonprofit farm they operate.
He said he had shown respect for the law, referring to the officer’s testimony that Hawkes wasn’t hostile or aggressive toward the officer.
“I wasn’t trying to evade,” Hawkes said.
“You kind of were, though,” Bissen said, noting that Hawkes ran when he was located by the officer.
Hawkes said he didn’t hide and put his hands in the air.
“What’s the use of putting your hands in the air if you started running with your feet?” Bissen asked.
The judge asked what Hawkes would do differently.”I would definitely stay at the scene,” Hawkes said. “I would not drive off again.”
“I think that’s a valuable lesson,” Bissen said.
Repeating his trial testimony, Hawkes said he had been exercising his right to drive when he was stopped and didn’t need a driver’s license. He also said he had insurance through “Pono Auto Insurance,” which the prosecution showed isn’t registered to do business in the state.
“I heard your explanation and I don’t believe it any more than the jury did,” Bissen told Hawkes. “You can twist and play the semantics all you want. I think you’re a highly intelligent person. But you couldn’t manage to convince anybody, including me, that this was a valid argument.”
Hawkes said he now rides the bus, after weeks of research “to understand and come to a middle ground.”
“Either that or you’re tired of going to jail or running out of money to pay fines,” Bissen said.
He said it was troubling that, after the July 23 arrest, Hawkes’ had nine more citations for no insurance or no driver’s license from September to January.
Bissen also said it seemed contradictory that Hawkes raised the issue of civil disobedience while testifying that he had never voted until he ran for mayor last year.
“Your resistance to government has to do with not wanting to pay the fees that everybody else has to pay so we can have the roads,” Bissen told Hawkes. “For some reason, you put yourself in a category of being special.”
The judge followed the prosecution’s recommendation, which he said was “more than fair,” in sentencing Hawkes to the 30-day jail term and one year’s probation.
Hawkes, who has already served nine days of the term, was ordered to turn himself in Wednesday morning at the Maui Community Correctional Center to serve the first of weekly two-day increments until he completes the jail term.
Hawkes was ordered to pay $700 in fines and $254 in fees.
A three-month driver’s license suspension was ordered for Hawkes, and he was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs, including medical marijuana.
Hawkes finished last in the Aug. 9 primary election with 380 votes, representing 1.3 percent of the total cast.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
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