AIEA, Hawaii (KHON2) — There was another brazen robbery targeting senior citizens. This time, a carjacking with the thieves driving off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.
It happened around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021 near Aloha Stadium. The victims, a 75-year-old man and his 62-year-old wife, were in a white van filled with jewelry they were planning to sell at the swap meet. They’ve been vendors there for about 25 years.
The victim says they were on Kamehameha Highway near the mauka gate of the stadium when his van was hit in the back by another car. So he stopped and he then saw a man wearing a ski mask run up to the van.
“One guy opened the door, jumped up and he broke my window on the driver’s side,” said the male victim. “He said, ‘Get out. Give me the key. I got a gun!’ He pointed it at me, and he pulled me out.”
He says the suspect then jumped in the driver’s seat, and pushed the victim’s wife out through the passenger door and drove off. The car hit her leg so EMS took her to the hospital to have surgery.
The family says she’s still in the hospital in good condition. The family also says all the jewelry inside the van is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“They took all my merchandise inside the car,” said the victim. “They took the car. About 35 minutes later, police said they found the van.”
He says everything was taken from the van. A second suspect also wore a ski mask, and drove a black Scion sedan, which probably has damage on its front bumper.
Security experts say thieves are getting more brazen because they’re more desperate and willing to take bigger risks. So take all the precautions, and neighbors, look out for one another.
“It’s getting to a point where you better lock your house,” said Louis Siracusa, president of Phoenix Security Hawaii. “You better check your doors. It’s good if you have a dog running around inside your house. You set your alarms. We have to get to that kind of world. It seems to be, it is the new normal, unfortunately.”
HPD says there’s been no arrests.
