Kalihi vehicle fire
might be hate crime
Police are investigating a possible hate crime in the torching of three vehicles belonging to state Child and Adult Protective Services workers Wednesday in Kalihi, said state Human Services Director Lillian Koller.
CORRECTION
Saturday, April 24, 2003» State Human Services Director Lillian Koller confirmed that police were investigating Wednesday's intentionally set multivehicle fire in Kalihi as a possible anti-gay hate crime. An article on Page A4 of yesterday's early edition incorrectly reported that Koller said the owner of the targeted vehicle might be gay and the victim of a hate crime.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.The owner of the target vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, might be gay and the victim of a hate crime, Koller said.
Initial speculation was that the Child Welfare Branch was the target of the attack because the Jeep's owner is an administrator with the agency.
The Jeep had been doused with an accelerant, according to fire investigators, while parked on the fifth floor of the parking structure at 420 Waiakamilo Road, where some child and adult welfare workers' offices are located.
The fire destroyed the Jeep and two cars parked next to it, melting metal and leaving charred shells. Three other cars received minor damage. Fire investigators estimated damage at $24,000 to the vehicles and $10,000 to the building.
Koller said she received reports from Department of Human Services workers that anti-gay fliers were left on dashboards of cars parked on the street near the building the day of the incident.
"It would be a leap to make that connection," she said. "Regardless of what the motive of this perpetrator was, it is unacceptable behavior.
"It still has that adverse impact on the Child Welfare Branch" and others in that building, she said.
Koller said all Child and Adult Protective Services workers are front-line responders who have received threats.
However, "nothing as notorious and flagrant as a criminal act has occurred," Koller said.
She said she will take measures to ensure the safety of these state workers and has also called on the attorney general's office to investigate.
"That incident yesterday really made us all start to rethink how safe we are," said Barbie-Jo Fa'agau, a supervisor for Adult Protective Services' intake unit who lost her 1988 Toyota Corolla in the fire.
"We've all had little incidents," she said. "I guess we take it as it comes with the job. ... We're disrupting people's lives."
People get upset and say things in the heat of the moment, she said. "We take it for granted they're just idle threats," Fa'agau said. "Everybody's wondering who's next."
Fa'agau had been on the front lines as an Adult Protective Services worker three years ago.
"It's a sad feeling when you go out there to protect others who are vulnerable and feel vulnerable yourself," she said.
