WAILUKU — Bail was increased to $500,000 each for two men charged with attempted murder for an April 4 attack in a Waihee neighborhood that seriously injured an off-duty Maui police detective.

During arraignments yesterday in 2nd Circuit Court, brothers Steven Sauceda, 38, of Wailuku, and Leonard Sauceda Jr., 42, of Waihee, each pleaded not guilty to a second-degree attempted murder charge. A July 13 trial was scheduled for both men, who are being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center.

Bail had been set at $230,000 for Steven Sauceda and $235,000 for Leonard Sauceda Jr., who was also charged with second-degree criminal property damage of a truck parked in detective Jamie Becraft's driveway that night.

Around 10:30 or 11 p.m., the 20-year police veteran said he had gone outside his house near Waihee Park to confront a teenage boy who was using a cast on his arm to smash mailboxes. The boy, his brother and a teenage girl surrounded Becraft, who reported being kicked and punched on the ground before he managed to retreat into his house and waken his wife to call 911.

When Becraft went back outside because a boy was on the porch, first Steven Sauceda and then Leonard Sauceda Jr. ran up to the house, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing earlier this month.

Both men had baseball bats, which they used to strike Becraft, he said. At one point, Becraft said he was pinned down in a concrete planter in his yard while he was hit and kicked. He managed to break free when his wife got a baseball bat that she used to get her husband's attackers off him, he said.

Most of the assailants fled as police sirens were heard approaching, he said. But Leonard Sauceda Jr. reportedly remained, using a bat to smash the headlights of the parked truck, which belonged to Becraft's friend.

In court yesterday, Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin said the original bail amounts were "woefully inadequate."

"The evidence showed there were no less than 19 baseball bat strikes to the victim," Martin said. "The nature of the charges, the violence of this particular attack, speak for themselves."

Martin asked that bail be increased to $1 million each for the Saucedas, who were arrested along with the three teenagers — Leonard Sauceda's two sons and Steven Sauceda's daughter — for participating in the assault with two baseball bats, a rock and fists.

Steven Sauceda was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in 1999 after being convicted of second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

"We believe that his prior history does indicate that he certainly is a danger to the community," Martin said.

Attorney Michelle Drewyer, representing Steven Sauceda, opposed any bail increase.

Judge Shackley Raffetto increased bail for both defendants to $500,000, pending bail hearings scheduled for tomorrow. The judge also ordered the two men to have no contact with Becraft and his family and to stay away from their residence.