KINGMAN – The language barrier that presented difficulty in the criminal investigation is also evident in legal proceedings for an elderly Asian defendant who allegedly brutally assaulted co-workers with hot oil at a Kingman eatery last spring. Parties had difficulty hearing and understanding one another during an Oct. 14 hearing for Kien Yun Wong, the 70-year old who reportedly slit his throat after attacking two male co-workers during the lunch hour at the Sakura Sushi & Grill.
A translator appeared over the telephone which was placed behind COVID-19 plexiglass in the historical, though acoustically- challenged third story courtroom under an ornate stained-glass ceiling at the Mohave County courthouse in Kingman. The interpreter struggled communicating with the Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert and Wong, who reportedly intermixes Mandarin with another Chinese dialect.
“Obviously, the language barrier here is significant,” Lambert said.
Public Defender Paul Amann told the Court the communication issues are being addressed as best they can. He said that he’s still trying to arrange an interpreter-assisted office setting allowing a local doctor to attempt to complete a preliminary mental health assessment regarding Wong’s competency to stand trial.
The need to complete that evaluation and various schedule conflicts saw Judge Lambert set the case for a Jan. 6 status hearing.
Wong is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault.
The restaurant was closed to in-person dining due to COVID-19 restrictions, but was open for curbside pickup when the violence occurred during the lunch hour. A few pages of police reports indicate Wong was the only employee present when police arrived following a 12:30 p.m. medical call.
“I walked into the kitchen entrance where I observed an adult Asian male seated on the floor,” primary officer Reyes Lerma’s narrative said. He said that the man later determined to be Wong suffered a large lower throat laceration and had large amounts of blood on his chest and hands.
Lerma’s report states that Wong tried to refuse help as officers attempted to apply gauze and pressure to the wound before emergency medical personnel arrived. He was rushed to the local hospital before he was airlifted for critical care in Las Vegas.
Reports show officers learned that two other male Sakura employees had been taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center before police arrived. The fellow employee who transported them, Tong Wu, returned to the restaurant and told police he was eating breakfast inside when he heard a commotion in the kitchen area.
“Tong advised when he went back to see what was going on, he saw one of the male employees washing oil off of his face,” Lerma’s report states. “Tong advised he then saw another employee who was bleeding a lot from his head. Tong advised he also saw a third employee (the older one) walking around uninjured, carrying a knife in one hand an unknown object in the other.”
Reports state that officers found a large amount of cooking oil on the floor, as well as blood droplets here and there, and bloody towels the alleged victims used in cleaning up before they were driven to the hospital.
In his report, officer Jack King said he responded to Kingman Regional Medical Center where both alleged victims were being treated for burns to their face, neck and upper extremities. One victim was also reportedly treated for a laceration over the top of his head.
King’s report said one victim told him there had been no argument before Wong tossed hot cooking oil on him and attacked him with a knife. The victim reportedly indicated that Wong subsequently dumped hot oil on the other co-worker.
Lerma authored a follow-up report involving his hospital bedside, interpreter-assisted interview with Wong. His report said that Wong indicated that he wanted to kill both victims and then kill himself.
Dave Hawkins
