Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Fireworks bomb hurts Waipahu man
A Waipahu man who blew off his hand while making a bomb out of fireworks was recovering yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center.
The 27-year-old man was making the bomb in his garage when it exploded about 3:10 p.m. Wednesday in the 400 block of Hianakiu Street, said Capt. Kevin Browne of the Waipahu Fire Station.
He was taken to Queen's in guarded condition and later improved to fair condition. The hand could not be saved, Browne said.
"He was lucky he didn't lose an eye, or more," Browne said. "This was pretty nasty."
Robber makes off with cash register
Toting the cash register with him, an armed robber ran into the parking lot of a Waipahu grocery store Wednesday, climbed into a waiting escape car and fled.
The crime was reported at 7:35 a.m. at Highway Supermarket, 94-909 Waipahu St.
A man — about 5 feet 4, 120 pounds — walked into the store and demanded money, pointing a black handgun at the female cashier, police said.
The employee ran toward the back of the store and, rather than pursue her, the robber took the cash register, police said. He ran to a waiting four-door white car driven by another man, and the pair sped away, police said.
Authorities believe the two have committed four armed robberies in Pearl City and Waipahu in the past two weeks.
Police investigate Wednesday beating
Police have opened an attempted murder case in the beating of a 39-year-old man Wednesday night in front of the Whitmore Gym.
About 9:30 p.m., a caller told police that two men were fighting in front of the gym in Whitmore Village.
When police and ambulance crews arrived, one man was unconscious in the parking lot. He was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition.
Police arrest robbery suspect
Police arrested a 23-year-old man yesterday in connection with the armed robbery of a video store Sunday in Wahiawa.
The man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and California Avenue in Wahiawa, police said.
On Sunday, a robber entered Alpha Video on 70 Kukui St., gave the 19-year-old woman cashier a note demanding money, showed a knife, took the money and fled. The cashier was not injured.
