’95 worst year in
takeover robbery

Bank robberies reached a record
of 65 that year, with three of them
being takeover situations

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

The last major bank takeover robbery involving a car chase and shootout with pursuing police was four years ago.

Gunman Philip Caban was shot in the stomach by a police officer in the aftermath of the Sept. 16, 1995, armed holdup at the McCully branch of Bank of America. He was later sentenced to life without parole for first-degree attempted murder of an officer.

Caban, armed with a semiautomatic handgun, forced employees and customers to lie on the floor while his partner, Bryan Kaluna, took cash. Kaluna and his sister, Johnette Kaluna, who drove the getaway car, were also convicted.

It was one of three takeover robberies in 1995, a year in which bank robberies here reached a record 65.

Unlike the usual, nonviolent bank holdup of a single teller, a takeover robbery features an operation in which the bandits take control of several people.

Past takeover robberies include:

Jan. 22, 1985: A man wearing a stocking mask grabbed a teller emerging from a vault at the Kaimuki branch of State Savings & Loan. Holding her in a headlock, he yelled that he had a gun in his right hand, which was covered with a paper bag. He ordered customers and other employees to lie on the floor while three tellers put money in a pillow case.

July 10, 1985: A man wearing a striped mask over his head and neck fired a shot into the ceiling of the Kapahulu Branch of Bank of Hawaii. The gunman, who entered and left by a back door, ordered two tellers to give him money while he held everyone else at bay.

Feb. 18, 1987: A robber took money from two tellers in a 1:15 p.m. holdup at First Hawaiian Bank's Kapahulu Branch, then crashed through a plate-glass window in a scuffle with a customer who tried to stop him. He was a suspect in other holdups.

May 5, 1987: A ski-masked gunman accosted an employee as she opened the back door to Liberty Bank's Moanalua branch before it opened. He forced her to open a vault and got undisclosed amount of cash. He was a suspect in other bank holdups.

Jan. 14, 1991: A gunman forced customers and employees of the Kalihi Branch of City Bank to lie on the floor while he took money from drawers.

Jan. 24, 1991: A gunman threw a plastic bag of gasoline on the manager of First Federal Savings & Loan's Manoa branch and threatened to light it. He held patrons and tellers at gunpoint while he emptied cash drawers.

Oct. 2, 1991: At Territorial Savings & Loan Kaneohe branch, one masked man held a gun on customers and employees while a second robber took about $13,000 from drawers.

Nov. 4, 1991: Jerry Tyrone Rogers arrived at Hawaii National Bank on Lagoon Drive as a delivery man, then pulled out a semiautomatic handgun. He forced seven employees into a corner, jumped over the counter and took $10,000 from cash drawers. He was convicted in this and the Jan. 24 robbery.

April 29, 1993: A robber fired two shots from a rifle into the ceiling of Bank of America's Haleiwa branch as he commanded everyone to lie on the floor. He crashed through a plate glass door as he left. No one was hurt.

May 14, 1993: A masked man with a pistol and a long-barreled handgun fired four shots in the Waianae branch of Bank of Hawaii to force everyone to lie down. His female accomplice climbed over the counter and took $23,000 from several cash drawers. Todd Paaaina was sentenced in this, the April 29 and a May 10 robbery. His niece, Charlotte Wright, was also sentenced in this case.

July 26, 1995: Two men got $10,000 at First Federal Savings & Loan in Kaimuki. The gunman held employees at gunpoint while his partner jumped over the counter and filled a dark-colored bag from four cash drawers. They matched the description of robbers in a June 26 holdup who held handguns on two women employees of Windward Jewelers while they opened cash drawers and display cases.

Jan. 9, 1996: A masked man brandished a semiautomatic handgun at employees in the Bank of America in Kaimuki and fled with cash.