Police seek robbery suspect

Police are seeking the public’s assistance in finding 29-year-old Mason D. Beck, who’s wanted for questioning in connection with a robbery that allegedly occurred Wednesday in Pahoa.

A 37-year-old visitor from Germany told officers he was driving a local friend’s vehicle when he stopped to pick up a male hitchhiker on the Pahoa-Kalapana Road (Route 130) near Pahoa. After getting into the car, the suspect threatened the victim with a carpenter’s nail gun and instructed him to continue driving. About 5 or 6 miles past Pahoa town, the suspect ordered the victim to pull to the side of the road at which time he ordered the victim out of the car. The suspect left with the vehicle and was last seen headed toward Kalapana.

Beck is known to frequent Pahoa town and the Kalapana Black Sands subdivision, though he is not known to have a permanent residence. He’s described as Caucasian, 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds with blonde hair, blue eyes, a short beard and a scar on the left side of his face.

Anyone with information or who knows Beck’s whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Dean Uyetake of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2379 or dean.uyetake@hawaiicounty.gov or to call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.