Dave Hawk lost his temper.

In a burst of anger, Hawk -- a prime suspect in his wife's murder and now a defendant in a fraud and child porn case -- shoved Sentinel photographer Gary Feinstein in the face this morning outside the Kings County courtroom and yelled, "Get away from me."

Bespectacled Feinstein fixed his glasses and told Hawk, "I'm just doing my job."

Stone-faced Hawk, flanked by his attorney Mark Coleman, then walked away from the court ignoring the media pursuit.

The attack occurred despite the presence of district attorney's investigators, sheriff's deputies and members of the press who attended his pretrial this morning.

Feinstein was aiming his camera at Hawk when the incident occurred. His attorney was talking to the other members of the media.

Assistant District Attorney Larry Crouch, who is prosecuting Hawk, said he will press charges against Hawk in the courthouse assault.

"We can't ignore it, especially since it was witnessed by our staff," Crouch said, as he took the names of the civilian witnesses. "There's no question about that."

Hawk, 49, a Lemoore farmer, is facing 10 felony charges stemming from the alleged theft and embezzlement from his children's trust fund and one misdemeanor charge of possessing child pornography.

Hawk was arrested and charged in June -- nearly a year after the disappearance of his ex-wife Debbie Hawk.

Although the prime suspect by police in the disappearance and probable death of his ex-wife, Hawk is not charged in connection with her case.

On Monday, the court set Hawk's preliminary hearing for Dec. 13.

Preliminary hearing is a mini-trial in which prosecutors lay out a barebones case, normally with a few testimonies by police investigators.

Prosecutors say the criminal charges against Hawk resulted from investigation into Debbie Hawk's disappearance.

The financial charges allege that Dave Hawk used his children's trust assets for his living expenses, and lied about his income on court documents during child custody and support hearings.

Hawk is suspected of having stolen more than $300,000 from the trust. He also allegedly failed to report the income and sale of trust assets on his taxes.

In addition, police seized Hawk's computer on June 30, and the child pornography statute only lasts a year.

Authorities are still intent upon solving the mystery of Debbie Hawk's death, and the investigation is still ongoing.

Debbie Hawk's friends, who attended today's court proceedings, expressed shock after witnessing Hawk's attack on the newspaper photographer.

"We were surprised," said Sandra Lackey, a Stanislaus County resident and a long-time friend of Debbie Hawk.

"Why would you do that in front of all these witnesses? Yet, it's obvious that he has anger management issues."

With $80,000 reward money at hand, friends of Debbie Hawk are still looking for information that could lead to the discovery of her body and prosecution of the suspect.

They say their efforts are about bringing home Debbie Hawk.

"Finding Debbie is not about Dave so much but about bringing her home and giving her kids a closure and giving us a closure and giving the community peace," said Eliza Carlson of Hanford. "We also believe whoever did this to Debbie must be held responsible."

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3059.

(Oct. 1, 2007)