By Bryan Manabat
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Variety News Staff
MICHAEL K. Ito pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven criminal charges stemming from a violent confrontation involving his former partner and another man.
Appearing before Superior Court Associate Judge Joey P. San Nicolas on June 30 for arraignment, Ito entered not guilty pleas to one count of kidnapping, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery, and two counts of disturbing the peace. He was represented by Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig, while Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas appeared for the government.
Judge San Nicolas scheduled a status hearing for Aug. 18.
The charges stem from an incident on May 31 that led to Ito’s arrest and detention. According to court documents, Department of Public Safety officers responded to a motor vehicle crash near the former Kanoa Resort in Susupe and found an injured woman beside her heavily damaged SUV. The woman allegedly told officers she was attempting to flee from Ito.
At about the same time, police received a separate report from a man who said he had been chased and threatened with a machete. The man told investigators he had been sitting in the woman’s vehicle in the Pacific Islands Club parking lot when Ito allegedly arrived, removed his shirt, damaged the vehicle, and threatened to kill him. He further alleged that Ito retrieved a machete, opened the passenger door, and attempted to stab him, causing a cut to his hand.
Court documents state that Ito later forced both individuals to accompany him to his father’s residence in San Antonio, where the assaults continued. Prosecutors allege that Ito choked the male victim, repeatedly struck the woman, and assaulted his father when he attempted to intervene.
Last month, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio found probable cause to hold Ito for trial after determining that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to support all seven charges.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
