The suspect, 23, was arrested at his Moanalua Road apartment after police received several tips.
Pearl City crime reduction units sent to a Pearlridge apartment arrested him without incident at 8 a.m., said Officer Mike Cannella. He was booked for investigation of theft and a contempt-of-court warrant. The man's brother remained at-large.
The brothers are one of several transient groups who have come to Honolulu in the past, targeting the elderly, police said.
They are "masters of disguise," said Major Boise Correa, head of the East Honolulu district where some of these cases have been reported.
"They're con artists," Correa said. They can be pleasant, accommodating and appear to try to help their victims, he said. "They know the elderly are very trusting and take advantage of that."
One of the scams involve staking out parking lots of large shopping centers, looking for elderly motorists. They pretend they have been hit and convince the elderly to fork over money to cover the cost of repairs.
The state recently notified HMSA it intends to award QUEST contracts for Oahu, Maui and Kauai enrollees to other health care insurers.
HMSA is protesting the bidding process and adjustments made to bids by the state Department of Human Services, said Fred Fortin, HMSA spokesman.
Human Services Director Susan Chandler responded that the bidding process is "fair and sound."
She said HMSA's "adjusted bids were the highest for Oahu, Maui and Kauai and the contracts must be awarded to the lowest bidders."
Rick Egged, planning office director of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, was to offer his suggestions to committee staffers so that the bill could be refined and approved tonight.
Egged yesterday testified against the measure, saying it was unreasonable to have a Sept. 1 deadline for issuing a request for offers for purchasing the facility, which some senators have termed "a white elephant."
"That's a short time fuse," Egged said.
The administration favors another Senate measure, now before the House Finance Committee, that would offer tax breaks to attract motion picture and television companies to the isles because Hawaii faces stiff competition from other film locations.
A long-running TV series has not been produced in the isles since "Magnum, P.I." went off the air in 1988.
The woman was walking with her daughter when two males in a dark-colored car or van drove by and grabbed the older woman's purse, police said.
The woman was dragged and knocked to the ground.
She was in good condition at Straub Hospital, police said.
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