Maui police
release composite
of rape suspect

Female residents say they are being
more cautious since a string of sex
assaults began

WAILUKU » Maui police officers are distributing a sketch of a male suspect in the attempted sexual assault this week on a 72-year-old woman -- the fourth attack on an elderly woman on Maui since May 30.

Male suspect: He is described as having a slim build and a long, slender face

Maui police Sgt. Jaime Becraft said the sketch was initially being distributed to the news media, police and to senior-housing areas in Kahului. But he said if people wanted a copy, they could pick up one at the Wailuku police station or by sending a request via e-mail to crimewatch@mpd.net.

"We're going to try to distribute it everywhere we can," Becraft said.

Police have described the suspect as 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall, slim and clean-shaven with a long, slender face.

Police said the man might have a white or light-colored van.

Police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said the composite sketch was developed through the investigation of Tuesday's attack.

The woman was walking along Holua Drive at 5:03 a.m. Tuesday when the man grabbed her and tried to pull her into a dark area, police said.

But the woman pulled out the pin of an electronic alarm device, sending out a piercing sound that sent the attacker fleeing on foot.

A few blocks away at the W&F Washerette yesterday, residents said they were happy that a sketch of the suspect was available, and would be making copies to distribute to friends.

Nancy Dela Cruz, 62, a resident of the senior-housing project Hale Kahaluu, said there are many retired people who still take walks in the mornings but that some of them, including herself, are more cautious since the attacks and have bought electronic alarm devices.

Residents said the recent sexual assaults have made them change or consider changing their routine.

Pamela Raphael, the general manager of the senior assisted-housing Roselani Place, said she is thinking of going to a women's exercise club instead of walking alone in the mornings.

Barbara Satterfield said she might buy pepper spray to carry on her walks. She said she used to carry pepper spray with her when she lived in Honolulu.

"I never thought this would happen on Maui," she said.

Karine Llaneta, who manages a store at Kaahumanu Center, said she does not let her female workers empty the trash in the rear of the building at night.

"With all these rapes, they're really scared," she said.

The first sexual assault occurred at 3 a.m. May 30, involving an 87-year-old woman who was raped in the bedroom of her house within a radius of 1.5 miles from Hina and Wakea avenues in Kahului.

Police said the man broke a window to enter the house and took her handbag containing cash and other items.

The second rape occurred between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. June 14 near Hina and Wakea avenues. A 78-year-old woman was walking outside Hale Mahaolu when a man pulled her into a brush area, police said.

The third rape occurred at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at a home on Kenolio Road in Kihei and involved an 83-year-old woman. Police said the man entered through an unlocked window and also took cash.

GARY KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM Like the alarm used by the 72-year-old woman attacked Tuesday, this electronic alarm is activated by pulling a metal pin.

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Failed rape on Maui fuels
sales of personal alarms

Maui electronics shops were barraged with phone inquiries about personal alarms yesterday after a 72-year-old Kahului woman spooked her attacker by activating one.

"Everybody's been calling all day," said sales associate Jaymee Arruiza at the Kahului Radio Shack, but the store did not have any in stock. "We rarely sell them," she said.

The Kihei store received about 50 inquiries on the item. "They're asking for that personal alarm that saved that lady in the newspaper," said manager Robert Allison.

Customers wiped out its entire inventory of 30 alarms yesterday; a shipment is due in a few days.

The Kahului resident was the fourth elderly woman on Maui attacked since May 30. The first two were raped in Kahului; the third, in Kihei.

Maui police Sgt. Jaime Becraft said yesterday the woman used an electronic alarm device about half the size of an egg.

"It has a pin that you pull whenever you want to activate it," he said. "When you activate it, it makes a loud, piercing sound."

Becraft, who did not name the model used by the woman, said this type of device can be found at local electronic stores or on the Internet.

Nancy Dela Cruz, 62, a resident at the senior housing project Hale Mahaolu in Kahului, said she bought two electronic alarm devices about a month ago after she heard about the rapes of elderly women near her home.

Dela Cruz said the devices cost about $20 to $28 each, but they provide her with a sense of security in the event of an assault.

"I think it will help a lot," she said.

Radio Shack carries two models: a 145-decibel, $8.89 egg-shaped alarm on a key chain that fits in the palm of the hand and is activated by pulling out a pin; and a 95-decibel, $4.97 triangular combination alarm and flashlight with a strap meant to be worn around the neck.

The egg-shaped model has a high-pitched, shrill alarm. Its 145 decibels is equivalent to the noise coming from a jet engine 100 feet off the ground, said Peter Tabilang, director of advertising for Radio Shack Hawaii.

The Kahului Radio Shack has eight on order that are due in next week, but customers can have them shipped directly to them at no additional cost.

Similar products are available at gun and security shops as well as on the Internet.

Security Equipment Corp. on Oahu sells a 120-decibel alarm the size of a Zippo lighter on a key chain for $10. The user must hold a button down to sound the alarm.

Young Guns on Oahu sells the Screecher, a 130-decibel alarm the size of a credit card with a strobe light and flashlight.

But demand for the safety products at Oahu stores has not been as great as those on Maui.

"We've had a few customers buy it for people on Maui," said Byron Walter, a Radio Shack sales associate at the South King Street store.

The islands' 24 Radio Shack stores had been selling about 12 a week, Tabilang said.

"After the exposure, we'll probably sell them all out, too," he said.

"It's a deterrent more than anything else," Tabilang said. But he is not sure that it will always work.

"Sometimes it may end up causing the individual to get more angry," he said.