Posted on: Friday, April 12, 2002
Burglar chased, arrested
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
| Safety tips
1. Don't confront the burglar. 2. Leave your home and seek safety at a neighbor's home. 3. Call police immediately. 4. Maintain visual contact with the burglar at a safe distance. 5. Provide description of the burglar and the burglar's vehicle, including license plate. - From Honolulu Police Department |
In the wake of a Hau'ula burglary last week where homeowners confronted and followed a suspect, police are offering safety tips on what to do when a homeowner comes face-to-face with a burglar.
The suspect in the April 3 Hau'ula case was arrested and charged. Police yesterday credited the Hau'ula couple with helping in the apprehension of the man, who is being investigated in connection with three other burglaries in La'ie, Tantalus and Manoa.
Police charged Lynn G. Waterhouse, 40, on suspicion of first-degree burglary April 4. Waterhouse, who has no local address, was being held on $50,000 bail.
While no one was hurt in the Hau'ula burglary, police want to make homeowners aware of the dangers of confronting burglars, said Lt. Michael Correa of the Windward O'ahu theft zone detail.
"If residents come home and the burglar is inside, leave the house, go to nearest neighbor for help and call 911 for police," Correa said. "Don't confront the burglar. You don't know what kind of a person you're dealing with, if they're dangerous or not."
According to a police, the Hau'ula burglary was taking place when a woman homeowner returned home on the 53-900 block of Kamehameha Highway at about 11:18 a.m. She saw a silver-colored van parked across the street and her garage door open.
As the woman drove up to the driveway, she saw a stranger, carrying her one-of-a-kind Hawaiian print design purse on his right shoulder walk toward the van.
The woman called her husband, who sighted the van near Kahalu'u and followed it along with police cars and a police helicopter. Police followed the van into Kalihi where the man abandoned it near 2850 Numana Road in Kalihi Valley.
Police recovered most of the property and arrested the man. The woman's husband later used a metal detector to recover his wife's jewelry that was ditched at the scene.
