Posted on: Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Separate robberies may be by same men

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Masked gunmen attacked a man early yesterday in the parking lot of a Makiki fast-food restaurant and stole his car. About an hour later, a McCully woman reported being robbed and sexually assaulted by a man wearing a ski mask.

The two crimes may be linked to the same suspects, police said.

The armed robbery at Zippy's Restaurant at 1222 S. King St. was reported at 1:15 a.m.

A 25-year-old man told police he was confronted in the parking lot by two masked men with handguns, who came out from a van parked next to his car. The man reportedly was struck above the left eye by one of the gunmen and on the nose by the other man, police said.

The victim shoved a third man away and ran back into the restaurant. He later discovered his car was missing. The vehicle has not been recovered.

At 2:20 a.m., a 24-year-old woman reported that a masked man forced his way into her Kamoku Street residence and demanded money. After searching her bedroom, the man fondled the woman, police said. The woman told police she heard a second person searching her residence.

The men fled in a van, police said.