A three-inch scar across his forehead came about two years ago when one of four men he stopped from taking a case of beer each from his store struck him with a long stick.
A reddish, inch-long scar above his right eyebrow is still healing - a reminder of the July 9 robbery at Chris Liquor and Grocery - his store on Sheridan Street.
The holdup was one of 119 robberies reported on Oahu last month - up 11 from the previous month.
In Waikiki, robberies more than doubled from 11 to 29 - largely because of drive-by purse snatchings, police say. In many cases, stolen cars were used, then abandoned. Police fought back with increased surveillance in troublesome areas.
In central Honolulu, 32 robberies were reported last month - eight more than in June. At least four were solved with the arrest of a 35-year-old Manoa man, said police Lt. Cliff Takesono, head of the robbery detail.
Increased police presence in Waikiki appears to have scared purse snatchers into the neighboring central Honolulu district, which includes Keeaumoku, Atkinson and Kaheka streets, he said.
Police hope the arrests of two men this month will help keep the numbers down. Thomas Ching, 30, of Waimanalo and Joseph Aquino, 29, of Kalihi face trial in separate purse snatchings.
Although police can't say for sure why, drive-bys seem to have decreased this month. Rather, suspects are approaching their victims on foot, then fleeing into a car parked nearby as they have done in the past, Takesono said.
Suspects apparently aren't escaping unscathed. Police have heard reports of suspects who have suffered broken fingers or had their fingernails ripped off from doing drive-bys.
Some victims have recovered from their physical injuries but are much more wary now when people pass their establishments.
The four victims of the Pawaa robberies all were "small businessmen trying to make it in tough economic times," said Takesono.
Kim, who was smashed in the face with a bottle of vodka by the robber, was out for two weeks. Fearing for his wife's safety, Kim called in a friend to assist her in running the store until he felt well enough to return.
Kim has installed security cameras and a sensor that goes off whenever someone enters the store.
A 70-year-old hairdresser robbed by the same suspect two days later has also returned to work. After 20-some years operating the Banyan Barber on Kaheka Street, she refused to let him get away without a fight and grabbed a phone. He punched her in the eye and took the contents of her register.
Her employees are relieved he was caught. "Lucky for everybody," said Rose Han, who had called in sick that day, leaving her employer at work alone.
The day before, police had been looking for a man fitting the robber's description who robbed Rosarina Pizza, around the corner on S. King Street.
Pizza cook Tony Nguon, 26, was preparing a pizza ordered by a walk-in customer when the customer pushed through the kitchen door and began punching him about the head and face.
"Don't hurt me - what you want?" Nguon remembers asking the man before feeling the sharp point of a knife jabbed into his side. He fumbled as he opened the register and felt the knife go in deeper as the man ordered him again to open it.
The man locked Nguon in a restroom before fleeing.
On July 13, police arrested a suspect believed responsible for the robberies when he struck again. An employee of Ultra Video on Kalakaua Avenue identified him as the customer who had struck him in the face and fled with the store's cash.
The suspect apparently had been on parole since September 1988 after serving six years for murder. In April, police arrested him for a parole violation, said Tony Commendador, paroling authority administrator.
He was released less than a month later and ordered to enter a drug treatment program.