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Victims describe
Manoa robbery

Manoa residents on patrol

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Less than a week after they were robbed at gunpoint in their Manoa Valley home, two women recounted their traumatic experience at a court hearing for a man they've identified as the suspect.

Twenty-year-old Shaun C. Rodrigues is charged with two counts each of armed robbery and kidnapping and one count of first-degree burglary in last Saturday's home-invasion robbery on Oahu Avenue.

Rodrigues was arrested Monday at his Enchanted Lake residence and charged the following day.

Dianne Sugihara and her 24-year-old daughter, Dawn, said they were shown six photos by police from which they identified the intruder who surprised them in their home.

Attorney William Harrison called Rodrigues' mother, Antoinette "Toni" Trazo-Kurihara, and stepfather, Todd Kurihara, who both testified his client was at home in Enchanted Lakes asleep when the 9 a.m. robbery in Manoa occurred.

Dianne Sugihara said the suspect confronted her in the master bedroom.

He had a gun pointed at her daughter, who had arrived home after he entered the house through a kitchen window.

Dianne Sugihara said Rodrigues demanded jewelry but told him she had none because the house had been previously burglarized.

The suspect replied "you should get a better security system," she said.

Dawn Sugihara also acknowledged the security system comment in her testimony.

Both women confirmed that there had been no previous mention of the home's security system prior to the apparent off-the-cuff remark by the suspect.

In charging Rodrigues, police reported he assisted in installing home alarms. He reportedly was involved in installing an upgraded system in the Sugihara residence.

Before tying up the women, Rodrigues allegedly tried to remove Dianne Sugihara's diamond wedding ring from her finger.

"I asked him not to take it, it's all I had left," Dianne Sugihara said.

When the suspect allegedly told her he'd cut off her finger, she took the ring off and gave it to him.

Both women testified the suspect emptied their purses and took cash. A watch, pearl earrings and gold ring also were stolen in the robbery.

Dawn Sugihara estimated the suspect was in the home about 30 minutes. She reported the incident at 9:43 a.m.

Trazo-Kurihara stated her son was asleep in the family room when she, her husband and two relatives returned from breakfast at 8:50 a.m.

District Judge Faauuga Tootoo continued the hearing to Tuesday to allow Harrison to call one more witness.

Manoa residents on patrol Star-Bulletin staff Manoa residents are hitting the streets because of a recent home invasion in the neighborhood. Residents went out and passed out copies of a flier with the sketch and description of the suspect in Wednesday's robbery at a Manoa Road house where a housekeeper was tied up. Sam Aiona, Republican candidate for a state House seat from the 24th District, Manoa-Makiki, organized a meeting Thursday. Aiona is a neighborhood patrol captain in Makiki and is working to organize a similar patrol in Manoa to help protect the neighborhood. "This sort of community effort does work," Aiona said. About 15 Manoa residents met with Detective Glen Morimoto on Thursday evening to discuss what they can do to prevent intruders entering their homes. Residents were told at the Manoa Triangle Park meeting that the most important thing they can do is to get to know their neighbors and communicate with them, thereby looking out for one another.