Hawaii mayoral candidate shot with stun gun during barefoot flee from cops

7/27/2014

Maui Police officers stunned a barefoot, bearded Beau Hawkes during an arrest on resisting and failing to obey an officer charges after he left a Maui County meeting on July 23. The tie-dye lovin’ candidate is running for Maui County mayor in the Aug. 9 primary.

THE MAUI WOWIE BOOTUBE: ORIGINAL BAMBOO WATERPIPE FROM HAWAI‘I VIA FACEBOOKBeau Hawkes, of Maui, who was chased and stunned by police, makes bamboo water bongs for a living, the primary funding for his race for mayor.

Cops quite possibly stunned the next mayor of Maui County.

During an arrest, the barefoot Beau Hawkes, 34, slipped from the grasp of a Maui Police officer and sprinted with a cat-like tread to freedom.

The sun-bleached surfer makes bamboo water bongs for a living and is also one of five in a pool of candidates already dwindling before the August primary for mayor due to misfiled public disclosure statements and even allegations of violating criminal release conditions.

But the following moments in Hawke’s July 23 encounter with the law is anything but mayoral.

As he fled, he screamed, “Come on, cop! You can’t do this, dude,” just before the officer fired a stun gun into Hawke’s back, throwing his body straight into the ground.

Every groan, every scream is heard from clear across the block as officers cuffed him.

MAUIWATCH VIA YOUTUBEBeau Hawkes, candidate for the mayor of Maui County, has garnered attention after he ran away from a police officer in Wailuku, Hawaii, on July 23 and was shot by a stun gun.

“I’m not resisting,” Hawkes bellowed. “I’m not touching you, bro. You’re touching me.”

Looking back on the arrest, Hawkes is glad the camera didn't catch his face plant because he wouldn't want his children to see it.

"That was an incredibly abrupt and brutal landing and I thank God that happened out of frame," Hawkes told the Daily News.

The native of Idaho, born to a Mormon family, is a self-described “sovereign individual” that doesn’t believe in paying taxes, carrying a driver's license, putting plates on his cars or doing anything that would ensnare himself in "American commercial laws," he said.

He doesn’t even believe in wearing shoes, which photos shows he didn’t wear during his arrest nor while filing for candidacy at the Maui County Elections Office.

"In Maui, we can get away with that," Hawkes said.

The arrest stemmed from a traffic stop along the Haleakala Highway for driving without license plates and an offense he believes was put into law illegally: talking on his cell phone.

It's not clear if the cop let the Makawao candidate continue on his way to a Maui County testimony meeting on GMOs or if Hawkes fled the traffic stop, but the officer followed him there and waited for him.

MAUIWATCH VIA YOUTUBEEnlarge

MAUIWATCH VIA YOUTUBEEnlarge

MAUIWATCH VIA YOUTUBEEnlarge

Hawkes' stunning July 23 encounter with cops was caught on video.

A request for information to the Maui Police Department by The News was not immediately returned.

The officer confronted Hawkes outside the Old Wailuku Courthouse and attempted to arrest him, but Hawkes freaked out, pulled his arm away and fled.

He is now charged with resisting arrest and failing to obey an officer.

THE MAUI WOWIE BOOTUBE: ORIGINAL BAMBOO WATERPIPE FROM HAWAI‘I VIA FACEBOOKThis is the bamboo bomb that Beau Hawkes makes in Maui.

Despite the charges, Hawkes plans on sticking with his mayoral campaign, which is funded by his business making bamboo pipes known as "Bootubes" for smoking, he told The News.

He's not even swayed by Nelson Waikiki Jr., another candidate, and his arrest for violating conditions of release on July 16 after a candidate forum. He is awaiting sentencing on felony charges for an investment scheme, according to Maui News.

Another candidate, Neldon Mamuad, was disqualified for not filing a financial disclosure statement.

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