Suspect held in $2M heist
A police chase ends at Leeward Bowl with an arrest in the Waipahu jewelry robbery
A 25-year-old Ewa man arrested Thursday is suspected of the armed robbery of $2 million in jewelry from a man in the parking lot of the Waipahu Shopping Plaza, police said yesterday.
Officers arrested the suspect, who tried to elude police in a chase that included two allegedly stolen vehicles.
Police said that at 12:30 p.m. Thursday the victim, 57, was meeting someone at the Golden Coin Restaurant at the shopping plaza to show his jewels when the robbery occurred, police said.
He opened the trunk of his car in the parking lot when the suspect fired one round from a gun at the man.
The suspect allegedly threatened to kill the victim, took the sales case with $2 million worth of jewels and fled in an allegedly stolen blue Chevy Blazer, police said.
Witnesses saw the suspect park the Blazer nearby and get into a blue Honda sedan, according to police.
Initial reports said the suspect and another man drove off in the Honda.
Police got the license plate number, and officers located and followed the car. The police helicopter joined the pursuit.
"The car ended up going in the opposite direction on the freeway," Maj. Debora Tandal said.
Helicopter personnel kept a close watch on the suspect's vehicle as it got off the freeway and onto Kamehameha Highway in the correct direction, police said.
The car then headed toward Aloha Stadium, made a U-turn near Blaisdell Park, then turned into Leeward Bowl in the Pearl City Shopping Center, Tandal said.
Police caught up with the car outside Leeward Bowl.
Officers caught the 25-year-old man at 1:15 p.m. in the bowling alley's kitchen and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree robbery.
Information on a possible second suspect was unavailable last night.
Police said they have still not recovered the gun or the jewelry case with the stolen merchandise inside, but they were seeking a search warrant for the Honda yesterday.
Star-Bulletin reporters Rod Antone and Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.