Posted on: Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Police Web site leads to recovery of rings
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
After losing more than $7,500 worth of jewelry in a burglary a year ago, Hawai'i Kai resident Donna Fujie didn't hold out much hope that she would ever see any of it again. Then, she discovered five of her rings on a special Honolulu police Web site.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser She went online last week, recognized five of her rings and called police.
Fujie said she figured the items were gone. "I was amazed," she said. "I had just kind of written it off."
Acting Detective Clement Enoka III said "it's very rare" for police to return stolen property to the rightful owners.
Detective Letha DeCaires said the Web site has helped to reunite people with their property, more so than the old method of calling people to view items displayed at the police station.
• If you were the victim of a burglary last year and filed a police report, you may be able to find your items on a special police Web site available for viewing at www.honolulupd.org. • The photos of about 500 pieces of stolen property will be online until Feb. 28. • To claim property, detectives ask that people provide a police report number and contact the detective assigned to their case for more information. Source: Honolulu Police Department Yesterday, Fujie took the time to model about $3,000 worth of the sparkling costume jewelry on the steps of Honolulu Police headquarters. "I instantly saw these five," she said. "I was really excited just to see them again."
Fujie admits to a weakness for jewelry: "I love it; I guess I could say it's a hobby."
Fujie's avid interest helped her get her jewelry back more easily. She kept receipts for many of her pieces and even photographs of some, so she could document her ownership quickly.
The recovered property on the Web site includes stereo and video-game equipment, cameras, knives and computer equipment as well as a vast assortment of jewelry.
Enoka said about a dozen people have claimed their stolen items since police put out the word of the cache of stolen goods recovered and available for on-line viewing since Feb. 2.
Another woman happy to get back some stolen goods was 73-year-old Gladys Park of Palolo. Park said police found a camera stolen from her house Aug. 30 along with some commemorative coins with added sentimental value.
"I'm really impressed," she said. "I just thought everything was lost." She was surprised to hear from Enoka that he had found a set of commemorative coins with her son's name on them. "I didn't even realize that was missing," Park said.
That's because she had bought the coins for her son when he was a boy and then packed them away after he died four years ago.
She was impressed that Enoka was able to connect the cases when he noticed similarities in several burglaries. "I really admire him, that he could crack that ring," Park said.
Police arrested 21 men and four women linked to the case. Enoka said most of the property was found at A1 Pawnshop in Kalihi. Owner Quang Pham, 43, was charged with three counts of attempted second-degree theft on suspicion of buying stolen items from undercover officers.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
Fujie had read in the newspaper about police cracking a major islandwide crime ring that used burglaries and car break-ins to pay for gambling and drug parties. And she read that police had tracked down about 500 items recovered from burglaries.
Donna Fujie kept receipts and photos of her jewelry, which helped her quickly prove ownership of the rings stolen from her home.
DeCaires said Fujie's case shows the value of keeping good records. And she said it offers an unexpected message to crime victims: "Don't give up hope."
Web-surfing for stolen property
