Clown-faced robber suspected in heists

Police say the "clown robber" who hit the Market City Foodland American Savings Bank yesterday is the same man who robbed the bank on Sept. 28 and the Bank of Hawai'i at Kamehameha Shopping Center on Oct. 19. Honolulu Police Department photo

A man with a painted clown's face and colorful wig, who yesterday robbed the American Savings Bank branch at Market City Foodland in Kapahulu, is a suspect in two other financial institution robberies since Sept. 28, police said.

All three robberies have involved bank branches inside of markets at shopping centers. "This male shows an obvious sense of humor but bank robbery is serious business," Honolulu CrimeStoppers coordinator Det. Letha DeCaires said.

Yesterday's robbery was reported at 10:26 a.m. The suspect is Caucasian, in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds with a muscular build, police said.

Police said he is also responsible for the Oct. 19 robbery of Bank of Hawai'i's Star Market branch at Kamehameha Shopping Center and the Sept. 28 robbery of the same American Savings Bank branch hit yesterday.

Anyone with information about the suspect can call robbery Det. Eric Yiu at 529-3436 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular telephone.

In other news related to local bank robberies:

• A 55-year-old man has been charged by the FBI for allegedly robbing First Hawaiian Bank's University branch at 2411 S. King St. on Tuesday. Sasuf Samori allegedly demanded money from a customer service officer. Police apprehended Samori while he was still inside the bank.

• Federal authorities, meanwhile, are expected to charge a 37-year-old man for allegedly robbing Bank of Hawai'i's main branch on Oct. 8. He has been at O'ahu Community Correctional Center since his arrest Oct. 9 on a probation revocation warrant.

Mo'ili'ili man, 22, arrested in assault

A 22-year-old Mo'ili'ili man was arrested by police last night on suspicion that he grabbed a woman on Ke'eaumoku Street, forced her into a parking lot and tried to steal her purse. Police captured the man on Kalakaua Avenue near Philip Street at 9:30 p.m.

Man charged in beating of sister

Police yesterday charged a 39-year-old Kalihi man for allegedly striking his sister on the head several times with a chair during a domestic dispute Wednesday night at their Linapuni Street apartment.

The woman, 37, was allegedly also threatened with a knife by Daichiro Killon, who is charged with second-degree assault and first-degree terroristic threatening. Killon is being held in lieu of $22,000 bail.

Public help sought in Waikiki beating

Police are asking for the public's help in gathering information about a beating in Waikiki Saturday that has left an Air Force sergeant in critical condition.

Two men punched the sergeant in the Queen Kapiolani Hotel about

2 a.m. Saturday as he and his fiance were waiting for an elevator. The victim fell to the ground unconscious and the assailants were last seen running west on Cartwright Road.The victim remains in a coma with serious head injuries, police said.

Police described one assailant as in his mid-20s, about 6 feet tall with a medium build, dark complexion and black frizzy hair in a ponytail. The second man was described as in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 7, medium build, with a dark complexion and black frizzy hair.

The vehicle being sought is a turquoise, older-model passenger minivan with tinted windows.