Print subscriber but without online access? Activate your Digital Account now.
If a 31-year-old Kailua man committed a five-day armed robbery spree last week, as police believe, he apparently didn’t get much for his efforts, court documents say.
A woman’s purse and wallet were taken in one of the robberies, but the robber came away emptyhanded in the three other robberies, says a police affidavit filed in Honolulu District Court.
James D. Walters III: The suspect in several robberies was arrested Tuesday when he met with a female friend
James D. Walters III appeared in District Court on Friday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. He is charged with seven counts each of first-degree robbery and firearms violations and one count each of kidnapping and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
Walters was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
According to the police affidavit, Walters committed the following robberies:
» April 18: Walters entered a car occupied by a woman and her 1-year-old son just before 5 p.m. at Kailua Beach Park. Walters brandished a gun and ordered the woman to drive, police said. After a short distance he told her to pull over, took her purse and wallet and fled.
» April 20: Walters confronted a family of four from Japan walking on the Ala Wai Canal bridge at Ala Moana Boulevard at about 10 p.m. One of the visitors said Walters used a "small silver-colored handgun." Walters tried unsuccessfully to take a woman’s purse and cellphone.
» April 21: Walters used a shotgun to rob the L&R Drive Inn on Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe at about 7 p.m.
Walters pointed the weapon at a cook, demanded money and cocked the shotgun, telling the cook it was loaded. The other employees ran out of the restaurant, and Walters chased after them. Walters tried to open a cash register on the way out, but because it was locked, he left empty-handed.
» Sunday: A Canadian tourist encountered Walters in Lanikai at Mokulua Drive and Onekea Drive breaking into the tourist’s rental car at 12:45 p.m. The driver’s side window had been smashed.
The visitor said he grabbed Walters, pulled him out of the car and asked for his belongings back.
When Walters said he had a gun concealed in a backpack, the visitor let him walk past him. However, the visitor followed Walters yelling, "Help me; he took my stuff."
A couple saw the victim chasing Walters. They confronted Walters on Kuailima Drive. The victim was able to get the backpack and retrieve his laptop computer. The visitor said he saw a small silver-colored pistol with black hand grips in the bottom of the backpack. Walters took the backpack, went to a truck and drove off.
A Lanikai resident saw Walters drive away in a black truck with pipe racks, and gave police the truck’s license plate number.
On Tuesday police issued a CrimeStoppers bulletin asking for the public’s help in finding Walters, who was wanted for questioning in connection with the armed robberies in Waikiki and Lanikai. Police said he was also a suspect in other robberies and described him as armed and dangerous. Police also released photos of a truck with pipe racks.
Police arrested Walters at a Date Street apartment complex Tuesday night when he met with a female friend.
Walters, of a Keolu Hills address, does not have a criminal record, police said.
72