Posted on: Sunday, June 24, 2001

Waipahu jewelry store hit for second time in three weeks

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

Robbed yesterday in a brazen daytime heist that netted the perpetrators $40,000 in merchandise, jewelry store operator Scott Tran hopes the recurring terror will stop.

Police yesterday were seeking two men who came into Debbie's Jewelry at the Waipahu Town Center on Farrington Highway shortly after 11 a.m. The two looked around the store for a minute before one man pulled out a crowbar to batter a glass jewelry display, police said. Tran and seven other family members were in the store.

The family business was robbed in a similar fashion three weeks ago, losing about $25,000 worth of jewelry.

"Someone used a crowbar in that one, too," Tran said. "We haven't even repaired the glass yet."

In the Friday robbery, the crowbar-wielder failed to break through the shatterproof glass, but mangled it enough to pry out a window pane.

The men grabbed two trays carrying golden chain necklaces and a number of Hawaiian bracelets.

Tran and nephew Mike Pham tried to stop the men, but the suspect threatened to strike them with the crowbar.

"We weren't sure if they had a gun, so I told the others to run to the back," Tran said.

The men left the shopping center in a gray Audi driven by another man and headed up Kunia Road and possibly onto the H-1 Freeway.

The vehicle's license plate is JPZ099, but police believe the car was reported stolen.

No one was seriously hurt, but Tran's 12-year-old male cousin was cut on the neck by flying glass.