Citizens capture robbery suspect

Advertiser Staff

HILO, Hawai'i — A Hilo robbery suspect was captured yesterday after being chased down by a Bank of Hawai'i employee, a bank customer and two motorists.

The robbery occurred at 9:30 a.m. at the bank's Waiakea branch on East Kawili Street. Police said the suspect wore a bandanna over part of his face and pretended to have a pistol in his jacket pocket while demanding money from a teller. After receiving some cash, the robber ran out the door. A female bank employee and a male customer chased him on Kanoelehua Avenue, toward Banyan Drive.

A passing motorist stopped, picked up the customer and joined the chase, police said. When they caught up with the suspect, the customer jumped out of the car and tackled the man. A second motorist stopped to help restrain the suspect until an off-duty police officer arrived.

Police recovered the cash and arrested the man, who remained in police custody yesterday.

Although police usually advise residents not to attempt to apprehend suspects, Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna thanked the four citizens, whose names were not released, for their "courage and civic mindedness."

Police would not say whether the man in custody is a suspect in two other Hilo bank robberies. On June 24, a masked man with a machete robbed the same Bank of Hawai'i branch. He fled on a bicycle. On June 17, a man wearing a cloth over his head and armed with a knife tried to rob the Home Street Bank in Hilo. When he was unable to open the locked cash drawers, he fled on a bicycle.