Big Island police charged a 42-year-old Kailua-Kona woman after they say she tried to physically remove a child from a classroom Monday morning.
Police say they responded to a report of an unknown woman attempting to take children away from Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua-Kona while school was in session.
It was reported that while the woman was attempting to physically remove a child from a classroom, a staff member intervened and prevented the woman from removing the child.
Police say contact with the child’s family members indicates that the woman is not known to them, and had no authorization to remove the child.
Patrol officers identified the suspect as Kehaulani Rubio. She was arrested and was later charged with custodial interference in the first degree.
Rubio is being held at the Kealakehe Police Station with bail set at $10,000.
“It is very unusual to have something of this nature occurring on the Kona side, or anywhere in the state of Hawaii. It’s very concerning when somebody does something like this. It’s kind of an isolated thing we don’t deal with too often at all. Anytime a stranger tries to grab your kid, your kid should be trained by you to deal with something like that to prevent this from happening,” said Major Robert Wagner.
Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.
