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Man charged in Hawaii kidnapping kept girl shackled in bus, documents say

The 15-year-old girl was able to escape outside a cafe Saturday after bystanders saw she needed help, authorities said.

A man in Hawaii accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last week kept the victim restrained in a yellow bus, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

The girl escaped from her abductor after she convinced him to take her to a cafe in Hilo on Saturday and bystanders intervened, according to police and the documents.

Duncan Mahi, 52, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, methamphetamine trafficking and other counts, Hawaii police said.

The Friday abduction, which authorities said was at knifepoint from a beach by Anaeho'omalu Bay on the northwest side of Hawaii’s Big Island, triggered an Amber alert.

Cafe Pesto in Hilo, Hawaii.
Cafe Pesto in Hilo, Hawaii.Google Maps

The girl escaped Saturday after she struggled with Mahi outside Cafe Pesto in Hilo, police said in court documents filed Tuesday. A bystander stopped Mahi from chasing the girl, and another man said, “That’s the girl in the news,” the documents said.

Mahi ran and fled in a car but was arrested later that day, police said.

The girl’s boyfriend reported Friday that a man armed with a knife approached them, forced the girl to restrain his hands and legs with zip ties and kidnapped her, police said in the court documents.

The girl said she was forced into a car, made to smoke methamphetamine and sexually assaulted, according to the court documents.

She said she was then taken to a home where she was kept in a parked yellow bus with a cable and a shackle attached to her ankle, according to the court document. The next day, she persuaded Mahi to take her to the cafe, the documents said.

An attorney listed as representing Mahi did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Mahi is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Thursday. Court records do not indicate a plea.

A grand jury indicted Mahi on 11 counts Wednesday, NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu reported.