Updated at 12:21 p.m., Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Hijacking suspect confesses, according to court papers
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Ricky Kenui |
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| "Jacob" |
Detectives went to a home in Wahiawa Jan. 20 to question Ricky K. Kenui about the Jan. 18 hijacking and Kenui went to the Wahiawa police station with them. At the station, he first confessed to taking the van and then retracted his confession, according the court statement.
Kenui was not arrested at that time due to insufficient evidence. But detectives kept working on the case and continued to develop evidence against Kenui, the court statement shows.
After Kenui had been released, a woman came forward and told investigators that a man she knew only as "Ricky" had approached her and asked if she could cash some personal checks and told her that he had been involved in a robbery at the Kahe Point park, according to the statement.
The woman was then shown a photograph of Kenui and identified him as "Ricky."
| Police seek leads
Robbery detectives are requesting the public's help in finding the possible getaway driver in the Jan. 18 hijacking of a tour van. The man goes by the first name "Jacob" and is believed to be in his 30s, 5 feet 10, with a muscular build. He is homeless and may frequent Leeward O'ahu beaches. Anyone with information may call robbery Detective Bert Soria at 529-3357. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or *CRIME on cellular phones. |
The 1996 Mercury Mystique Kenui drove to the restaurant was seized by police and searched on Jan. 24. During that search, police found a towel identical to one left in the van by one of three girls who were in it along with a man when it was hijacked.
Police then found two witnesses who recalled seeing the blue Mercury, which is owned by Kenui, at the beach park at the time the van was stolen.
According to the statement filed in District Court, police detectives contacted Kenui a second time and asked if he would agree to take a lie detector test at the main police station on Beretania Street and submit to a second interview.
Kenui agreed and after waiving his constitutional rights, confessed to taking the van, holding the passengers against their will and brandishing a "Leatherman-type knife" while taking the property of one of the van passengers, according to the court statement.
Kenui then told investigators that he and an accomplice known to him only as "Jacob" discarded some of the property and then took detectives to an area where some of the stolen items were found. Police recovered the items, which were identified as having belonged to the victims of the hijacking.
Kenui was charged this past Sunday with armed robbery and auto theft. Police are continuing to look for the man identified as "Jacob."
A preliminary hearing for Kenui in the van hijacking case is set for 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, although as is the case in any felony-level criminal case, a grand jury may issue an indictment preempting the need for a preliminary hearing.
