Puna Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara interrupted a burglary at her Pahoa council office Monday when she found a man making himself a little too comfortable.
Puna Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara interrupted a burglary at her Pahoa council office Monday when she found a man making himself a little too comfortable.
She said she went to the office, which was closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in response to a report that a laptop was stolen, and found two men, one of whom was using the toilet with the door open.
“It was not a pretty sight,” O’Hara said.
Both men fled, she said, leaving behind a shirt and stacks of office equipment that they were preparing to haul out.
The men also raided the refrigerator.
O’Hara said she suspected they had been there since Sunday following a open house at the office the day before.
Hawaii Police Department Lt. Gregory Esteban said one suspect was described as between 20 and 30 years old, tan, with long hair. The other was tan, short, with a slim build. He said it’s unclear how long they were there.
O’Hara said she was tipped about a possible break-in when someone alerted her that a laptop belonging to the office was being used at a nearby business. The computer had yet to be recovered Tuesday afternoon.
She said the men claimed to be county workers when approached by a Pahoa resident, and even accepted paperwork as if they were staff.
There were no signs of a forced entry, O’Hara said.
“I was feeling violated,” she said about the ordeal.
“The whole thing was very irritating to me.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.