At about 4:15 p.m. a witness to the break-in reported to police that two men who had been in a car circling the lot got out of the vehicle and broke into another car. A second witness called 911 to provide the license plate number of the car the men had been riding in. Police dispatchers quickly determined the car had been reported as stolen, police said.

Police officers were en route to the parking lot when they saw that car speeding away from the scene. The driver ignored the officers' instructions to pull over, and police pursued the car until it collided with three other vehicles and left the scene. Several minutes later, yet another witness called police to say a car had been abandoned in 'Aiea.

Police then closed in on a house that they said is known for criminal activity and found two men that matched the description of the men involved in the break-in. Witnesses identified the pair and they were arrested on suspicion of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, unlawful control of a motor vehicle and fleeing the scene of an accident.