A 57-year-old man accused of robbing First Hawaiian Bank’s Pahoa branch on May 17 is again in police custody.
A 57-year-old man accused of robbing First Hawaiian Bank’s Pahoa branch on May 17 is again in police custody.
Anthony Louis Gover was rearrested at about 3:50 p.m. Friday in Pahoa, said police Lt. Miles Chong of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section.
Gover is charged with two counts of first-degree robbery. His bail is $20,000 and his initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
According to a court document filed by police and prosecutors, Gover, who was arrested shortly after the robbery, was taken to Hilo Medical Center after complaining of chest pain. There, medical professionals confirmed a pre-existing medical condition and told police Gover needed to be immediately flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu for treatment, and he was released from custody to be treated on May 18.
On May 22, an officer contacted Queen’s and was told Gover’s whereabouts were unknown, leading to a warrant being issued by a judge and Friday’s apprehension of Gover.
A teller at the bank told police that about 1:45 p.m. May 17, a tall, slender, bespectacled African-American man wearing a black hoodie partially covering his face entered the bank, put a black backpack on the counter and said to put money in his bag and no one gets hurt, the document states.
After a teller refused to comply, the man allegedly pulled a knife out of his backpack, pointed it at the teller and said, “Do you want to die?”
The suspect allegedly told the two tellers on duty he wanted only $50 and $100 bills. He reportedly then went to the second teller, pointed the knife and said, “Give me the money or I’ll jump over and kill you both.” The second teller told police the man showed three knives in his possession.
The first teller told police that at that time, she grabbed stacks of $50, $100 and $1 bills and threw the money on top of the partition at the teller counter. She said after some of the bills landed on the floor, the suspect grabbed the bills from the partition and picked up the bills that had fallen, then grabbed his backpack and walked out.
Gover was arrested shortly thereafter in the parking lot of the Pahoa Community Aquatic Center. Police recovered two knives and cash totaling $1,580 — $5 more than allegedly was taken from the bank, the document states.
According to the document, Gover has a lengthy criminal record including convictions in Ohio for felony theft in 1978, carrying a concealed weapon in 1980, breaking and entering in 1981 and 1983, safe-cracking in 1991, aggravated robbery in 1991 and robbery in 1994; and in California for robbery in 2001 and 2002. He was sentenced to prison terms more than once, including a three-year stretch in California’s notorious San Quentin.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.