GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Under the watchful eye of campus security, Kapolei Middle School students lined up yesterday for after-school bus rides.

Kapolei school
plans workshop
on safety

The school will help parents teach
children safety precautions

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

Officials at Kapolei Middle School plan to hold a parent workshop after worried parents called the school inquiring about Monday's abduction of a 12-year-old girl.

"It's very important as a parent that their child knows what to do and what to look for and who to contact," said Jo Ann Abrazado, parent community network center facilitator at Kapolei Middle School.

Officials will discuss what parents can tell their children to do if they are confronted by a stranger.

Principal Annette Nishikawa wrote a letter to all students yesterday about the abduction and safety tips. An e-mail notice was also sent to faculty and staff members at Kapolei High and Elementary schools alerting them of the abduction.

Teachers told their students to look out for a man with a goatee in his 30s, driving a rusted silver Nissan Sentra.

A seventh-grader told police she was at a city bus stop at Kapolei Parkway and Kamaaha Avenue about 2:45 p.m. Monday when a man in a car showed her a knife and ordered her to get into his vehicle. Police said the man drove the girl toward Kapolei High School and stopped at another bus stop at Maluohai Street when the girl escaped.

The safety manager informed three other security officials on campus of the abduction and gave them a description of the suspect. Police are investigating. Teachers said they saw more police cars patrolling the area yesterday.

Makakilo resident Kim Medeiros was shocked to hear about the abduction.

"I'm surprised somebody would do that in a place that's so busy like that," said Medeiros, who has a 12-year-old son, Keoni, who attends Kapolei Middle School. "It's hard to keep your kids safe."

Family and consumer science teacher Peggy Pavao said, "It's like a stab in the gut ... It hurts us to see that it happens."

Pavao and other teachers talked about the abduction with their students in class and told them to notify staff and faculty if they see anyone suspicious around campus.

Eighth-grade teacher Cynthia Chong said she was shocked to hear an abduction occurred on a busy public sidewalk.

The school's safety manager Louis Marrero agreed.

Between 2:30 and 3 p.m., there are a lot of kids on the sidewalks walking home or catching the city bus, Marrero said. Ninety-nine percent of the more than 1,200 students who attend the school live in Kapolei and Makakilo, and this is the first time this has happened, he said.

"Hopefully it's an isolated incident," Marrero added.