Store owner identifies alleged robber

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jewelry store owner Jennifer Lu Tran yesterday identified Edward Benson as one of two men who robbed her Pearl Kai store Aug. 12.

District Judge Tenny Tongg found there was sufficient evidence to turn Benson over to Circuit Court to be tried on a charge of first-degree robbery. He will be arraigned Sept. 10.

Tran said she was suspicious of Benson and the other man from the moment they walked into her store because both were wearing dark sunglasses and baseball caps. She said the two told here they were "just window-shopping."

After a woman customer left the store, Benson's accomplice pulled out a small handgun and ordered her into a work area in the back of the store, Tran said.

Through mirrored glass, she could see Benson reach over a counter into an open display case and remove several Hawaiian bracelets, which she estimated had a combined value of about $5,000.

Tran said she was concerned that her daughter, 14, or sons, 10 and 6, who were in the store at the time of the robbery, might be injured.

She said her two brothers-in-law were also in the store when the two robbers entered. She said she told one of them to go outside and wait in front of the store to yell for help, if necessary, because she sensed something was about to happen. No one was hurt during the incident.

Tran said she was able to trigger a portable robbery alarm button and was able to provide police with a videotape of the incident taken by a surveillance camera.

She said this is the second time she has been robbed.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.