Suspect arrested in robbery of 'Lost' actor

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Police have arrested the man who allegedly robbed at gunpoint "Lost" TV series actor Josh Holloway and his wife in their home in October.

The suspect, 21-year-old Ruben E. Royce, was already being held on a previous burglary charge at the Oahu Community Correctional Center when he was arrested at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Royce has not yet been charged in the Holloway robbery.

Capt. Frank Fujii, who held a news conference regarding the arrest, could not explain why Royce was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery, rather than second-degree. First-degree robbery, a Class A felony, carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

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Royce has two prior felony convictions, one for auto theft and one for a parole violation, and he was also convicted of abuse of a household member, Fujii said.

On Oct. 18, police arrested Royce at Keanu Street and 7th Avenue near Aliiolani Elementary School on a warrant and on suspicion of first-degree burglary, in which he allegedly broke into a Waipahu home earlier that week and assaulted his girlfriend. Police shot pepper spray pellets and wooden rounds to subdue him.

Holloway, whose tough-guy character Sawyer on the hit ABC show "Lost" sometimes carries a gun, found himself at the other end of a handgun when the suspect entered the couple's home at 4 a.m. Oct. 12.

Police would not say whether Royce knew he was entering the home of the actor.

Holloway told "Entertainment Tonight": "When someone has a gun in your face, don't give them any reason to pull the trigger. That's it, there's nothing you can do. If someone is pointing a 9 mm at me, I'm not moving.

"I just covered my wife and protected her, and that was it. And off he went," Holloway said.

Court records in a temporary restraining order taken out by Royce's mother show that his parents live near the Holloways in Hawaii Kai.



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