A man and a woman are being charged with theft and other offenses stemming from a purse-snatching incident Friday afternoon at a Waimea restaurant.
A man and a woman are being charged with theft and other offenses stemming from a purse-snatching incident Friday afternoon at a Waimea restaurant.
At 2:30 p.m. Friday, a 64-year-old Paauilo woman reported she was at a restaurant in a shopping center on the 67-1100 block of Mamalahoa Highway when a man grabbed her purse off the table and fled to an SUV in the parking lot being driven by a woman.
The victim followed and grabbed the driver side mirror of the SUV.
The SUV left the parking lot, causing the victim to fall to the ground. She was treated at North Hawaii Community Hospital for minor injuries and released.
Witnesses to the incident were able to provide police with the license plate number of the SUV.
Shortly before 4 p.m., officers spotted the vehicle as it pulled into the parking lot of a store off Highway 190 in Kailua-Kona.
Police arrested the driver, 38-year-old Linda Chong Tim-Castro, and a passenger, 35-year-old Gary Paulaau, both of Kailua-Kona.
A second passenger, 20-year-old Scott Vasconcellos-Rego of Waimea, was arrested on a bench warrant for violating terms of release on bail.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, Chong Tim-Castro was charged with reckless endangering, accessory to theft, theft/forgery of a credit card and unauthorized possession of personal confidential information.
Her bail was set at $10,500.
Paulaau was charged with theft, theft/forgery of a credit card, unauthorized possession of personal confidential information, promoting a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia and contempt of court.
His bail was set at $50,200.
Vasconcellos-Rego was charged with violating terms of release on bail.
All three remained at the Kona police cellblock until their initial court appearances, which were scheduled for Monday.