Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Three charged in heist at gambling parlor
Police have charged three men in connection with an armed robbery of an illegal gambling parlor Thursday near Ala Moana.
Police say Sydney Tafokitau, 21, of Honolulu; Mikaele Fatai, 22, of Wai'alae; and Phillip Pola, 29, of Kalihi, were charged with first-degree robbery. Tafokitau also was charged with a firearm offense. Bail was set at $75,000 each.
Police said the robbery took place on the 800 block of Ke'eaumoku Street at about 11 p.m. when three men armed with guns and a knife entered an illegal gambling room and robbed six patrons.
The robbers fled on foot, but were followed by one of the patrons. Police responded and arrested the men.
Waialua fire causes $20,000 damage
A brush fire destroyed two abandoned pump houses and caused an estimated $20,000 in damage in Waialua yesterday. The blaze started after a stolen car was set on fire, officials said.
Four fire companies responded to the 4:37 a.m. alarm at 67-190 Kanoulu St., said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo.
The fire spread from the burning car to nearby brush, eventually burning the two pump houses from the old Waialua sugar plantation.
No one was hurt in the blaze, which burned about an acre near Waialua Intermediate and High School. The fire was extinguished at 7:31 a.m., said Capt. Thomas Roblin.
Damage was estimated at $10,000 to the stolen Saturn car and $10,000 to the abandoned pump houses, Roblin said.
Suspected Wai'anae vandals arrested
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of terroristic threatening and other criminal offenses after a rampage early Monday in Wai'anae in which several cars were damaged.
Police said two vandals smashed the windows of three cars parked near the Wai'anae State Boat Harbor, then crossed Farrington Highway and damaged the windows and other parts of four cars near Ala Walua Street at about 5:30 a.m.
One person inside one of the cars was cut by flying glass and threatened by the vandals. Police made the arrests as the men were removing items from a car.
School zones added to statute
Drivers had better watch their speed around schools and construction sites.
Gov. Ben Cayetano has signed a bill that imposes a $250 fine for motorists who speed through such areas. The new law added school zones to an existing statute prohibiting speeding in construction zones.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Cal Kawamoto, D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), said the law allows the state Department of Transportation and counties to determine which areas near the school fall under the law. The speed limit near most schools is 25 mph.
