Burglar hunted in assault on girl, 8
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Patrol officers canvassed the Kalihi community yesterday, handing out fliers with a composite sketch that they hope will turn up the burglar who sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl on Friday.
CrimeStoppers sketch • Honolulu Police Department
The victim told police she was awakened at 2 a.m. Friday at her home by a male in his late teens or early 20s, taken from the house and sexually assaulted in a dark area behind the home.
Police have released this composite sketch of the suspect in the assault of a Kalihi girl, 8.
The family since has moved out of the house on Kalihi Street,, in an area where two other nighttime break-ins have been reported in the last month, said detective Letha DeCaires of the police CrimeStoppers program.
Family members were alerted by sounds of furniture overturning and the outside motion-sensor lights switching on, DeCaires said. While the family rushed to investigate, the child ran back to the house and told them she'd just been assaulted, DeCaires said.
The same house had been burglarized at night a month earlier, and there was another break-in a block away in April, DeCaires said. Neither of those cases involved sexual assault.
Police are still seeking leads from fingerprints and other forensic evidence gathered from all the burglaries but launched the canvassing effort on top of the usual CrimeStoppers media campaign because an extra push seemed warranted here, DeCaires added.
"I didn't get one call with a name last night, and that's pretty unusual," she said.
Kalihi police Lt. Margo Sneed said she handed out copies of the CrimeStoppers flier to every officer, sergeant and patrol trainee yesterday, with instructions to disperse them at schools and shopping centers. If smaller shops want to post a flier in their windows, additional copies will be available at the Kalihi station, Sneed said.
The burglar is described as being clean shaven with short dark hair, of medium height and build. He also was described as wearing a dark jacket, striped shirt and blue shorts.
Anyone with information about this case can call detective Phillip Lavarias at 529-3847 or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers, 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
