Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Armed robberies possibly related
A series of recent armed robberies in the Pawa'a, Kaka'ako, lower Makiki and Ala Moana areas appear to be linked to the same suspects, police said.
A man allegedly threatened a security officer with a knife at a Hobron Lane hotel last night and fled with a cellular telephone. The officer discovered the man in the hotel's office at 11:09 p.m. The man is 18-20 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, police said.
The suspect fits the description of a man involved in an armed robbery March 2 in the parking lot of a Ke'eaumoku Street restaurant.
On Saturday, three men forced their way into the Kaka'ako office of TCA Wireless on Kawaihao Street and robbed a man of his wallet, car and cash. In addition, the men fled with 50 high-end cellular telephones.
The robbery was reported at 11:15 p.m. when the man, a co-owner of the business, freed himself after being bound with tape.
Three men also were involved in last Tuesday's holdup at the Zippy's Restaurant in Makiki, in which a man was robbed of his car. Police believe that robbery is connected to another robbery on the same day on Kamoku Street.
Sexual assault suspects held
Two of three men wanted on warrants charging them with sexual assaults on juvenile girls were arrested over the weekend. All three fugitives were featured on a CrimeStoppers bulletin released Friday.
Sheldon Manoha, 29, surrendered to police Saturday at HPD's Alapai station. He was wanted on a $10,000 warrant charging him with third-degree sexual assault on two girls, ages 12 and 13, last June.
At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, a tip led police to a Puhawai Road residence in Wai'anae where fugitive Florencio "Flor" Gandule, 35, was arrested. Gandule is charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl last year.
A third suspect, 52-year-old Matias Ulangca Jr., was still at large today. Ulangca, who has no permanent address, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl last December.
Crash victim from Kapahulu
The medical examiner's office today identified the motorcycle rider killed in a head-on collision March 9 on Kalaniana'ole Highway in Waimanalo as Walter P. Miller, 57, of Kapahulu.
The 24-year-old driver of a Ford Thunderbird that struck Miller's motorcycle was in the wrong lane, police said. The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and negligent homicide.
