Big Island police are following up on a handful of leads the public has provided in the wake of two violent home invasions this month in the Kona Palisades area.
Hawaii Police Department Criminal Investigations Section Area II Lt. Gerald Wike said Tuesday three detectives have been assigned to the case and are actively following up on about a half-dozen leads residents in the vicinity of Kaiminani Drive provided since the reported incidents Nov. 2 and 12.
“We’ve received a handful of calls about suspicious people or vehicles in the neighborhood,” Wike said. “And we encourage the public to continue to report any suspicious activity in the neighborhood — be it people or vehicles that are seen.”
On the case are detectives Walter Ah Mow, Sean Smith and Roylen Valera, whom Wike said have contacted every person who provided information and are working to identify the person or persons responsible for the home invasions. The department’s Kona Patrol division also is continuing increased patrols in the area, he added.
During the incidents, an unknown masked man brandishing a handgun entered two Hiolani Street homes and demanded cash and other items from the residents inside. Both incidents occurred during the early evening and no one was injured.
The first home invasion occurred about 7:35 p.m. when an unknown man barged into a home and pointed a handgun at the 72-year-old man inside and demanded cash. The second occurred about 8:10 p.m. when two women, ages 69 and 72, said they heard a noise in the living room of their home and found a man who pointed a handgun at them and demanded cash and telephones. In both cases, the man fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and phones.
The first victim was unable to provide a description of the man because he was dressed from head-to-toe in dark clothing and his head and face were covered. The two women described him as being Caucasian, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foo-7 inches tall, and having a thin build. He was wearing black clothing, including a black sweatshirt with an orange design on the front, and was carrying a black backpack with white lettering on the right strap.
The department is encouraging homeowners in the Kona Palisades area, which extends the length of Kaiminani Drive, to get involved in or start their own Neighborhood Watch. While the Kona Palisades Estates Association has a Neighborhood Watch program already, Wike encourages others in the large subdivision to establish additional watches.
The department also is encouraging bordering subdivisions to start Neighborhood Watch programs.
“What it does is it gets people in the community to become familiar with who their neighbors really are,” Wike said. “It’s really going back to the old style of actually knowing who lives on the street and knowing them by their first name.”
The department’s Community Policing section serves as a liaison between the individual Neighborhood Watch programs.
For more information about the Neighborhood Watch program, call Community Policing Officer William Vickery at 326-4646, ext. 257, or email him at wvickery@co.hawaii.hi.us.
Anyone with information about the home invasions is urged to call the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or contact Ah Mow at 326-4646, ext. 238; Smith at 326-4646, ext. 262; or Valera at 326-4646, ext. 224.
The detectives also can be reached via email to wahmow@co.hawaii.hi.us, ssmith.co.hawaii.hi.us or rvalera@co.hawaii.hi.us.
Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.
