Farrah Valdez was waiting for $20 from a Kaneohe automated teller machine on April Fool's Day when a gunman said: "Give me your money or take something out." Prosecutor gives account of
By Linda Hosek, Star-Bulletin
Kaneohe ATM robberyDeputy Prosecutor Jean Ireton yesterday described the incident during her opening statement in the first-degree robbery trial of Kaneohe resident Zeph Salis, 36.
The state has accused Salis of using a semiautomatic weapon to steal Valdez's money about 9:20 p.m. on April 1.
He also is awaiting a verdict in a separate trial for armed carjacking on April 17 in Enchanted Lake.
Nelson Goo, Salis' attorney in both cases, said the state would be unable to prove its ATM robbery case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ireton further described the incident to jurors, saying Salis grabbed Valdez's $20 as it came out of the Bank of America's ATM machine at Kahuhipa Street and Kamehameha Highway.She said Salis also picked up the wallet Valdez had dropped, took the $6 in it and told her: "Get the hell out of here."
"She was hysterical," Ireton said, adding that Valdez and her companion, David Bega, jotted down the number of the license plate on the robber's truck and went to Kaneohe police.
Ireton also said Bega, who had waited in a car while Valdez tried to withdraw money, saw that the robber had a semiautomatic weapon as he approached her.
She said police traced the robber's pickup truck to Salis. She also said that Valdez and Bega said the robber had the same kind of Hawaiian tattoo bands on his arm as Salis has on his.
The trial continues before Circuit Judge Michael Town, who also presided over the armed-carjacking trial.Salis is in custody in lieu of $550,000 bail.
City poinsettia display is trampled by vandal
A Scrooge trampled through a poinsettia display fronting the South King Street side of the Honolulu Municipal Building yesterday, damaging about 115 of the 400 plants that were put on display there the day before as part of the Honolulu City Lights program.City Information Director Carol Costa said workers were to replace the trampled plants today and then put a small fence around the display.
The plants come from the city's Waikiki nursery.
The city hires additional security when holiday displays are up "but the guards move constantly throughout the day" and can't watch all the displays all the time, Costa said.
She said she can't recall plants being vandalized before, although in previous years, some of the poinsettia pots fronting Honolulu Hale have been stolen.
The official opening of this year's Honolulu City Lights display is Saturday night.
Kauai woman to serve 20 years for robbery
LIHUE -- Cheryl Kaimi of Kapaa, Kauai, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday for the 1995 robbery of the Kauai Sands Hotel.Kaimi also received 10 years for kidnapping and terroristic threatening, to be served concurrently with the robbery sentence.
Kaimi was charged with robbing the night auditor of the hotel Sept. 5, 1995.
Prosecutors said she wore a canvas cloth with one eye hole and threatened the auditor with a handgun.
A security guard identified Kaimi at the scene shortly before the robbery, and the night auditor gave a description of the robber's body shape that matched Kaimi.
Police found a handgun at her home and clothing matching witnesses' description.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffA motorcyclist was killed and hundreds of commuters were delayed this morning after an accident on Kalanianaole Highway in front of Sea Life Park. Motorcyclist killed
By Jaymes K. Song, Star-Bulletin
on KalanianaoleWhile officers turned away traffic in both directions of the highway after the 6:45 a.m. accident, investigators were looking for the driver of a blue pickup truck that was abandoned at the scene.
Commuter Puna Duvauchelle waited patiently on the edge of the highway while crews worked at the crash site.
She decided to sit there rather than turning around, driving through town and heading over the Pali Highway.
Duvauchelle had been waiting since 7 a.m. for the road to reopen, but she did call her boss at the satellite city hall in Kailua to tell them she would be late. "I'll wait," she said at 9 a.m. "I'd be crazy to leave now."
Kailua-bound commuter Joe Medeiros also waited on the side of the road.
"It takes two hours just to get around the Pali, and earlier, with all the traffic, forget it," he said. By 9 a.m. he had been waiting for two hours, and said he'd wait two more.
At 10 a.m. Medeiros turned around and left.
Police said a Kailua-bound truck, which reportedly was driving on a blown tire, veered into the oncoming lane and struck the motorcycle, which slammed into a guardrail.
The motorcyclist was taken to Castle Hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
Police said the motorcyclist had no helmet. The truck was found on Inoa Street in Waimanalo a short time after the crash.
The registered owner of the truck, who police said was not the driver, said he had not let anyone borrow the vehicle.
Tourist Dmitri Chebotarev from Russia said he didn't mind the wait this morning.
He said he was planning to drive around the island but would enjoy the view of the ocean and Rabbit Island while waiting for the road to reopen.
Police seeking two men who robbed taxi driver
Police are looking for two men who robbed a taxi driver at gunpoint yesterday morning.The two suspects got into the cab in the Waipahu area around midnight and asked to be dropped off at Kuakahi Street and Mapala Place.
The men then allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded money from the woman driver, police said. She gave the men money and they fled on foot.
Man indicted for burglary wanted by authorities
A man indicted for two Kalihi burglaries is being sought by police through the CrimeStoppers program, which offers a cash reward for pertinent information.Howard D. Gomes Jr., 36, is wanted on grand jury warrants for first-degree burglary at a Perry Street home Dec. 14 and a Moani Street home Jan. 7. Police also want to question him in several other burglaries.
Police said he should not be approached. Instead, call the CrimeStoppers hot line, 955-8300.
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