$1,000 bills for sale lead
to arrest of suspect, 23
A 23-year-old Kaneohe man was arrested Friday for allegedly trying to sell seven $1,000 bills stolen in a robbery of a Kapiolani strip club owner's home earlier this month.
The man was arrested for suspicion of second-degree theft and released without being charged.
Police said the suspect tried to sell the bills Wednesday at a downtown Honolulu stamp and coin shop. Police had already alerted currency dealers to be on the lookout for the stolen bills. The suspect left the shop after the owner said he was not interested in buying the bills and called police.
Police later identified the suspect and arrested him in Kaneohe. However, they did not recover any of the missing bills, said Detective Robert Cravalho, Honolulu Police Department robbery detail.
According to the U.S. Treasury, production of $1,000 bills stopped during World War II as financial transfer technologies became more secure.
The bills were stolen in a Sept. 6 robbery of a home in Royal Summit in Aiea, police said. As many as four men entered through a window and bound with duct tape a 20-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy who were inside the house. The thieves left with a 640-pound safe containing an estimated $300,000 in jewelry and rare currencies and coins.
Police believe the thieves may also be responsible for the recent home burglaries of two other Honolulu bar owners.
On Aug. 23, burglars removed a safe from an Ahana Street apartment during a 40-minute period from the time the Keeaumoku strip club owner left her apartment to when her brother returned home. Police did not reveal an estimate of the safe's contents.
Two days later, burglars ransacked the Young Street apartment of a Keeaumoku sports bar owner and made off with $5,000 worth of jewelry and electronic equipment. The burglars tried to break into a safe but failed.
Police believe the burglars are patronizing the bars, following the owners home after closing, then returning to the homes at a time when they know the owners will be at work, Cravalho said.
