The entitled tourist charged with hurling a massive rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal claims he was actually doing a good thing – by trying to save a pair of helpless turtles.
Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, was hit with federal charges and beaten up by locals after the caught-on-video incident at a Lahaina beach on May 5, but was only trying to protect the turtles — known locally as honu — by scaring the beloved seal away, his lawyer told reporters.
“I want to be resoundingly clear to the public – he never intended to injure the monk seal,” attorney Myles Breiner told KHON-TV News. “He wanted to scare the seal away from the honu he saw there.
Igor Mykhaylovych, 38, was arrested and hit with federal charges for the attack. AP “Apparently, there were two large turtles and one had already been knocked off the rock by the seal,” Breiner told the outlet. “Sea lions are very aggressive.”
The knucklehead from Seattle went viral after a bystander filmed him throwing a coconut-sized rock at the seal that Hawaiians lovingly call Lani, and made matters worse when asked why.
“I don’t care,” he told the woman who filmed the alleged attack. “Fine me. I’m rich.”
Enraged locals tracked him down and at least one man slugged him over the incident.
A video of the horrifying incident quickly went viral. Courtesy Kaylee Schnitzer Lytvynchuk is now facing a federal charge of disturbing or harassing an endangered animal and could face up to one year in prison and a $50,000 fine.
“He recognizes he made a bad decision,” Breiner said.
However, the lawyer said the flippant statement attributed to his client is off the mark.
“The statement was, ‘I can afford it,’” he said.
