Hawaii Rep. Tom Brower might have put his sledgehammer back in the tool shed, but there鈥檚 still one question we haven鈥檛 seen answered.

How many laws did Brower actually break while on his wheel-bashing crusade against the homeless and their shopping carts?

Brower was so fed up with homelessness in his district 鈥 which includes Waikiki and Kakaako 鈥 that he decided to take matters into his own hands. Literally. With a sledgehammer.

His not-so-obvious solution was to smash up the shopping carts that homeless people use to carry their belongings.

鈥淚 got tired of telling people I鈥檓 trying to pass laws,鈥 Brower . 鈥淚 want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets.鈥

Brower鈥檚 antics garnered national attention and with it, a fair amount of criticism. While some considered him a hero, others looked at him as nothing more than a bully with a hammer.

But we couldn鈥檛 help but wonder why he wasn鈥檛 arrested, or at the very least, fined. More importantly, what would have happened to some random citizen whacking shopping carts with a sledgehammer? Would they have gotten in trouble?

Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said her agency never received any complaints about Brower. As a result, HPD was unable to determine if he broke any laws.

Yu didn鈥檛 want to speculate beyond that.

Local defense attorney Marcus Landsberg, however, wasn鈥檛 shy about pointing out the laws Brower might possibly have broken.

鈥淚t鈥檚 indisputable to me that he should be charged $250 per cart for illegal dumping,鈥 Landsberg told us, citing Honolulu鈥檚 rules for on the sidewalk.

Brower destroyed 30 shopping carts, and admits to leaving some behind for city workers to pick up. The rest he took to a recycling center, he says.

But Brower鈥檚 possible violations go beyond leaving mangled shopping carts on the side of the road.

Brower may well have committed criminal property damage, theft and terroristic threatening, a possible felony.

鈥淭he difference between misdemeanor and felony terroristic threatening is a weapon,鈥 Landsberg said. 鈥淐learly a sledgehammer is a weapon.鈥

Brower, of course, has said he didn鈥檛 intend to threaten anybody.

But he also clearly understood the image he was projecting. He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that when he鈥檚 鈥渨alking down the sidewalk with a sledgehammer people get out of your way.鈥

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