Posted at 10:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Gun stolen from HPD officer's car
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The break-in occurred between 2:30 and 3 p.m. near the Honouliuli wastewater treatment plant. Capt. Frank Fujii, Honolulu police spokesman, said the officer was off duty and was using his personal vehicle — not one used for police work — at the time.
Fujii said the officer experienced car trouble and pulled off the road. He said the officer "did everything he possibly could to secure his equipment" before leaving the car to go for help.
But in the 30 minutes that the car was unattended, someone broke into the vehicle and took the officer's uniform with his badge attached, 9 mm handgun, gun belt and hand-held police radio. Fujii declined to release the officer's name or where the equipment was stored.
Fujii said the department will "thoroughly" investigate the incident. He also said the officer's radio was disabled by the police department's radio shop soon after the theft.
Fujii said the department is concerned that the person or people involved in the theft may use the stolen equipment.
"If people have any reason to believe that someone is impersonating a police officer they should call 911 right away," Fujii said. "The only officers who are authorized to pull people over are going to be people in marked police cars. It'll either be the blue-and-whites or the subsidized vehicles with the dome lights."
