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KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — A Hawaii man collecting tropical fish has pleaded not guilty to a charge of terroristic threatening for allegedly pulling the air-supply regulator out of the mouth of an anti-aquarium industry activist while underwater.
West Hawaii Today reports (http://is.gd/XiEx0H) Jay Lovell did not speak during an arraignment Tuesday. A jury trial is set for Sept. 11 on the misdemeanor charge.
The incident took place in May off West Hawaii when activist Rene Umberger and other divers approached Lovell while he was collecting aquarium fish to sell. Umberger has said they approached with cameras to document him collecting tropical fish on the reef.
Jay Lovell's lawyer, Evans Smith, says his client was surrounded by six strangers, and that Lovell is "not the criminal here."
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