ON my shopping list for the week are lettuce, tomatoes, a couple rolls of toilet paper and, oh yes, pepper spray. I decided to purchase the controversial security device after reading about an incident last week in Pearl City. The fatal public beating
of Julia KealohaOn Feb. 10 - early in the afternoon, in the middle of a busy supermarket parking lot, right across the street from the police substation - Julia Kealoha was beaten into unconsciousness. She later died.
Several citizens, many of them elderly, apparently watched in horror as her assailant - identified by police as Kealoha's 40-year-old boyfriend, Vestal Simeona - punched the 49-year-old Kakaako woman until she was brain-dead. He has been indicted for manslaughter.
Initially, I was shocked and incensed, not only by the crime's viciousness but because nobody came to Kealoha's aid as she was being pummeled. Shades of Kitty Genovese! This is Honolulu, not Queens! Why wouldn't someone help a stranger in need?
Then came the scary realization: It's far too easy to judge when you weren't even there. Who knows what went on in the minds of bystanders as the assault took place? Who am I to second-guess and scold?
What might I have done if put in the same situation?
Well, in my pre-pepper-spray days, my reaction might have included whacking the perpetrator on the head or kicking him in the shins, to give the victim (and me) time to get away.
Wrong, say the experts from Honolulu's law-enforcement community. The first thing anyone should do on witnessing a crime is to notify police, whether that means dialing 911 or running across the street to the Pearl City substation, as in the Kealoha/Simeona incident.
"We don't advise people to get physically involved and possibly become victims themselves," says Lt. Karen Kaniho, who heads HPD's family violence detail.
Maj. Barbara Uphouse Wong, recently promoted to assistant chief and one of the highest-ranking female police officials in the nation, agrees. "It would be like jumping into the ocean after someone who is drowning," says Wong. "If you're going to drown along with them, it doesn't help a lot."
Sidney Hayakawa of the Drug Enforcement Agency carries a gun at all times. But even if he had been in the Foodland parking lot last Monday, and saw the beating in progress, he would have still called police before confronting an antagonist, he says. "I don't want to subdue the guy and then have the police mistakenly shoot me," Hayakawa explains.
KANIHO adds that it's more important for the public to step forward after the ruckus is over. "Once the officers get there, don't disappear," she says. "A lot of people don't want to provide us with their names or don't want to get involved, but it's vital for the investigation."
When I told Kaniho that I'd have a hard time calling 911 and then hanging around while somebody was being unmercifully bashed, she said that yelling at the culprit sometimes helps. She suggested bellowing, "Stop, the police are coming!" or any phrase with the word "police" in it.
I am going to follow Lt. Kaniho's advice - partially, at least. If I ever see someone viciously beating a woman or kid in public, I'm going to scream that the cops are on the way while dialing 911 on my cellular phone. Then, if that doesn't work, I'm going to try out my new pepper spray . . .