Michael Mochizuki hasn’t told his wife yet.
He’s been buying gift cards — $10 cards from Starbucks and Jamba Juice — and handing them to cops whenever he sees them. He was at the mall and told his wife to walk ahead to the store so he could catch up to a police officer he saw and give him a card. He spotted a speed trap in his neighborhood and walked down the road to hand the officer a gift card with a note of thanks.
Fifty-two years ago this week, Honolulu police officers saved Mochizuki’s father’s life.
On Nov. 21, 1964, two armed robbers charged into the Moiliili Star Market. Peter Mochizuki, the store manager, was helping to put up Christmas decorations. The gunmen were trying to get to the store safe. They took three store employees hostage. Warehouse manager Jiro Yamamoto was shot and died from his injuries. Mochizuki was shot twice but was rescued by HPD officers and survived. Two policemen were shot: Sgt. Opal Gilliland, who survived, and Lt. Benedict Eleneki, who died.
Michael Mochizuki was in the seventh grade when it happened. He remembers the night his mother got the phone call saying his father had been shot during a robbery. Over the years, his father talked about that night, always expressing a deep gratitude for the men who saved his life and impressing upon his two sons to have respect for the Police Department.
“Since then my point of view is always from the victim’s side,” Mochizuki said. “From that I formed pretty strong opinions of police officers and the job they do.”
Mochizuki, 65, is bothered by media coverage of the Police Department — the way cops in trouble make headlines but things like the quarterly awards ceremony are often ignored.
“There are over 2,000 officers in HPD, but we only read or know about the bad ones because those are the names who make the news,” he said.
But last year he started thinking differently.
“I’m a grumbler,” he said. “I like to grumble. But I decided to do something small that made me happy. I don’t want recognition for this. I don’t want to tell anybody. I didn’t even tell my wife. I just want the satisfaction of knowing I did something.”
He started giving out the gift cards last year around the anniversary of the incident. He decided to do it again this year. Each card has a note attached that briefly explains the backstory of the Star Market robbery and has a quote from his father: “These officers put their lives on the line for people like us, people they do not know, and we should always thank them for their service and their dedication. It’s a tough job.” This week Mochizuki also planned to bring a lei to the Law Enforcement Memorial downtown in honor of Lt. Eleneki.
Mochizuki’s father was 80 years old when he died in 2010. For the 43 years after the shooting, he was grateful for his life every day.
Mochizuki buys 10 cards at a time and goes back for more when he’s given out that stack. The interactions are brief — he gives the card, thanks the officer and goes on his way. “Half of them will say, ‘Hey, that’s OK. That’s our job.’”
“What I hope for is that more people realize that being a police officer is a tough job, but their dedication makes our lives pretty good,” Mochizuki said. “There’s this feeling you have when you need the police and they show up. It’s a feeling of ‘We’re gonna be OK.’”
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
