The armed robbery of a St. Louis Heights home Monday night is believed to be related to the stabbing death of a 29-year-old Pearl City man earlier that day, Honolulu police said.

HPD Say Two Home Invasions May Be Connected

 

Honolulu police are investigating a home invasion robbery in Saint Louis Heights and they say it may be related to the home invasion and stabbing in Pearl City.

 

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  Police Maj. Frank Fujii provided scant details, citing the ongoing investigation. But he did say investigators believe the two cases may have involved the same suspects.

“;At this time we also believe that we have a possible motive for why the crimes are being perpetrated, but we can't go into detail right now,”; Fujii said. “;What we want the residents to know is that we do not believe these are simply random acts against average citizens.”;

About 11 p.m. Monday, according to police, a 21-year-old man was at home on 2012 Oswald St. with nine other people, some of whom were tenants, when there was a knock on the door.

When the door opened, the suspects forced their way into the home, police said. One was armed with an assault rifle.

The victims were ordered onto the floor, and two of them were hit with the butt of a rifle. The suspects asked about a man and demanded drugs. Police said the suspects eventually learned that the person who they were looking for no longer lived at the home.

Police said the suspects then stole money and some property, including cell phones. There was no indication of drugs or drug use in the home, police said.

The only connection Fujii would indicate is that the suspects in the robbery and the Pearl City murder of Brendan Caires have matching descriptions.

In the robbery case:

» The first suspect was described as being in his early to mid-20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 250 pounds with a black hoody and black pants.

» The second suspect was in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall and about 170 to 180 pounds with a black hoody, black pants and a dark-colored bandanna.

» The third suspect is said to be in his early 20s, 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 240 to 250 pounds. He also wore a black hoody, black pants and a dark bandanna.

The first two suspects match the description of the two suspects wanted in Caires' slaying, except that those suspects wore hockey goalie masks.

At 1 a.m. Monday, Caires and his 27-year-old girlfriend were in their enclosed porch at the back of a townhouse at the Waiau Gardens Kai complex on Noelani Street when two men entered through an unlocked door.

There was a brief struggle, and Caires was stabbed and dragged out of the home. His girlfriend was hit with the butt of a handgun. A knife was recovered at the scene.

At the time, Fujii said the case didn't appear to be a “;typical home invasion”; and that the suspects and victim may have known each other. Fujii said the suspects have not been identified and that police are asking the public for help.

Fujii would not say yesterday whether the stabbing involved drugs like it did for the robbery case, or that Caires was connected at all to the St. Louis Heights home.

The men in the robbery case were apparently looking for a man named Cody, who hasn't lived at the home for more than two years and may not even be in the country anymore, said 50-year-old neighbor LaDean Wesbrook, who lives in the downstairs unit of the two-story home hit in Monday's robbery.

“;Whatever information the bad guys got, they was real stupid,”; he said.

Wesbrook said his neighbors are all college students who are “;quiet and respectful”; and to his knowledge law-abiding. He has been living at the home for four years.

Wesbrook said the man the suspects were looking for was an “;entrepreneur”; involved in computer networking.