Couple flying from Lahaina
to L.A. face firearms charge

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

A couple who allegedly tried to bring an unloaded gun through a Honolulu Airport security checkpoint face a preliminary hearing in District Court tomorrow.

Althea, 25, and Roger Dale Sears, 23, were arrested at 7:45 p.m. Saturday night after a security screener noticed a gun in one of their carry-on items as it passed through the X-ray machine, said Joe Guyton, airline security coordinator.

The couple had come from Lahaina and were transferring to a flight to Los Angeles, Guyton said.

Public defender Clay Kimoto said the married couple had been living on Maui for a year and had been trying to return to the mainland when they were arrested.

They have been charged with a firearms violation that is a Class B felony carrying a maximum 10-year sentence.

According to an affidavit filed in District Court by Sgt. Cameron Issenmann of the Department of Public Safety, security officers asked for permission to search the bag after a screener saw the image of a handgun on the X-ray screen.

A stainless steel .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol was located in a compartment of the black duffel bag that bore Althea Sears' name tag, the affidavit said. However, video surveillance tapes showed that Roger Sears had carried the bag and placed it on the conveyor belt.

The gun was not registered or reported stolen, the affidavit said.

Guyton said the couple had come on an Aloha Airlines flight from Maui and it was unclear whether they had brought the gun from Maui or picked it up in Honolulu.

"If they could walk over from the interisland terminal to the main terminal, they could have very easily met someone," he said.

Guyton said the couple obviously was not thinking when they tried to pass the gun through security.

"It's unconscionable with all the news you hear about airport security."