In a post here on Friday, I reported testimony by a used car dealer who described being beaten in a run-in with Mike Miske and two associates in 2015.

A regular reader, who writes as “Michael Formerly of Waikiki,” commented on the post.

March 10, 2024 at 5:23 am

What did the police do after responding?

I’m sure they filed a report. Did Chergui identify Miske as one of the assailants who assaulted him?

If so, did the police follow up and look for Miske and arrest him or at least ask him where he was when the assault take place?

Good questions.

The dealer who was the victim of this beating spoke about the follow-up when he testified before a federal grand jury in September 2018. He commented on the lack of action by police and prosecutors.

The following section appears in several pages of his grand jury testimony that were admitted into evidence in the Miskek trial.

Q. …did HPD ever prosecute, or did the City and County ever prosecute this assault?

A. No. They procrastinated on the process. I made the police report, I pointed to the person where he lives and everything, and they did nothing about it.

Q. Okay.

A. I had to call the Attorney General and, two days later, I get the detective calling me about the matter.

Q. Okay. Did the Attorney General ever bring charges to your knowledge?

A. No.

Q. Okay. So you mentioned that after you made a police report, you got a call. Who did you get a call from?

A. Apologize. I was at the parking lot at the police station —

Q. okay.

A. — and I made the report. On my way back — on my way out, I get the phone call.

Q. Is this on your cell phone?

A. On my cell, yes.

Q. And who did you geting the phone call from?

A.. From Mr. Michael.

e. Okay. And what did he tell you during the phone call?

A. When I’m going to get my — his money and, you remember, every other word is vulgar language so I don’t want to say every bad language he said so…

Q. Did he say he was going to fuck you up?

A. Give me the money, and I said I’m at the police station now. I’m making a report. And he said I’m going to come to you, and I’m going to “F” you up again at your house with your family.

Went back to the police station, and I said he just called me again making threats. Can I make a report on it? And they wouldn’t make a report again. He said you already make a report.

I’m from a different jurisdiction. If somebody call making a threat, they will send 20 police cars.

I realize here in the State of Hawaii, you get beat up and you say here’s the guy who did it, here’s my blood, here’s my tooth, and the cops do nothing about it.

Thursday, March 7, was Day 34 of the racketeering trial of former Kamaaaina Termite and Pest Control owner, Michael J. Miske Jr. The trial started January 6 with jury selection, and opening statements were on January 22.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Inciong provided a status report on the progress of the government’s case.

The government has called 69 witnesses to date, and decided to skip an additional 20 witnesses.

He said this meanns the case is “on track.”

The major witnesses so far have included Wayne Miller, at one time considered Miske’s #1 lieutenant, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Miske and others to violate federal racketeering laws; Preston Kimoto, a former Kamaaina Termite manager who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping using a facility of interstate communication (and implicating Miske and Miller in that kidnapping plot); Kaulana Freitas, who pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and using a chemical weapon by releasing a toxic chemical in a Honolulu nightclub. Witnesses to date have also included victims of several assaults allegedly committed by Miske, or at his command, as well as other witneses to these incidents.

At this point, Inciong estimated the government’s case is 20 to 25 percent complete.

Judge Derrick Watson, who is presiding over the trial, welcomed the news.

“That’s more than I thought,” he said.

It took six weeks of trial to get through the first 69 witnesses, so, at this point, the government’s case appears unlikely to wrap up until June or July.

What a marathon!

Jurors in the racketeering trial of former Honolulu business owner, Mike Miske, have heard testimony about several assaults allegedly committed by or ordered by Miske. This one was all business.

On Friday, February 23, they heard testimony about the assault of an employee of a termite treatment company that competed with Miske’s Kamaaina Termite.

Roger Usan, an employee of Terminix, a national pest control company with an extensive local presence, testified about an incident that occurred on March 24, 2011.

Usan said that at that time, he would use an “evidence book” when making sales pitches to prospective clients. The book showed problems with the work of rival companies, including Kamaaina Termite, as a way to steer clients to Terminix.

He testified that he received a call on his work cell phone from someone using the name “Kevin” who was shopping for termite treatment and asked Usan to stop and talk with him.

Usan said he went to the address Kevin had given him, and found the house was for sale. When he went in, and was met by two men. One, the larger man, punched him in the face and kicked him, knocking him to the ground. Usan hit his head in the fall.

“Don’t ever fuck with Kamaaina,” the man said, before he and his partner drove off.
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