Judge orders Lahaina man be held without bail

WAILUKU – A Lahaina man is being held without bail after he was arrested for allegedly violating a restraining order by repeatedly calling and texting his former girlfriend, a week after he was arrested on charges alleging he stalked and threatened her.

Kenneth Grochow, 46, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of violating a temporary restraining order on Monday after he had posted a $25,000 bail bond to be released from jail.

He was arrested Dec. 8 and charged with first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, two counts of second-degree terroristic threatening, harassment by stalking, reckless driving, driving without a license, open container, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and abuse by violating a warning citation.

In a petition seeking the temporary restraining order, the woman said she saw Grochow at her workplace Dec. 7 and went outside to get away from him. She got in her vehicle and was at a stoplight when Grochow “was right behind me revving his engine,” she wrote in her petition.

“I pulled into a parking lot where I felt safe, and Kenneth started to tail me in the parking lot,” she wrote. “He got out of his truck and I locked my doors. He started to say he was going to kill me and he started to punch at my windows.”

She said Grochow began taking items out of her truck “and continued to scream that he wanted to kill me.”

When someone approached Grochow, he wanted to fight with the person, the woman said. “He then targeted me again, and he came after me,” she said. “I was pulled away from my truck and I started to scream.”

A bystander called police, and Grochow left in his truck before being detained by police.

At 12:02 a.m. Dec. 8, police issued a warning citation prohibiting Grochow from having contact with the woman through 6 p.m. Dec. 12, according to court records. He was in custody at the Wailuku Police Station when he used a phone to call her at 9 a.m. Dec. 8, according to court records.

“Our relationship is very toxic and dangerous,” the woman wrote in her petition. “I am hiding from Kenneth and am afraid that he will literally kill me.”

In a declaration asking the court to revoke Grochow’s release on bail, Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp said the woman reported receiving a phone call and series of text messages from Grochow on Monday, three days after a bail bond was posted for his release from jail.

At a hearing Wednesday, 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill ordered that Grochow be held without bail. He was ordered to have no contact with the woman.

According to court records, Grochow has prior convictions for first-degree assault in a 2018 case and first-degree terroristic threatening in a 2017 case. He was sentenced to a one-year jail term as part of four years’ probation in those cases.