75
Photo by Leila Fujimori/lfujimori@staradvertiser.com
Honolulu Police and SWAT team officers close off Kalanianaole Highway near Castle Junction Tuesday as they search for a suspect believed to be armed. Four other suspects in a Hawaii Kai robbery were arrested in the area.
The manhunt for a robbery suspect that led police to close Kalanianaole Highway near Castle Junction and lock down students in classrooms yesterday has ended.
Police arrested a 25-year-old Liliha man at 11:45 p.m. last night for robbery near the Kamehameha Highway and H-3 Freeway intersection.
The suspect allegedly fled from a black Mazda near Castle Junction that is believed to have been involved in an armed robbery in Hawaii Kai at about 9 a.m. yesterday, police said.
The search for a potential gunman prompted a massive search yesterday morning involving the police helicopter, Specialized Services Division and Crime Reduction Unit officers and police dogs in the hills behind Hawaii Pacific University’s Hawaii Loa campus and along Kapaa Quarry Road.
Armed SWAT team members could be seen patrolling Kalanianaole Highway.
HPU’s Hawaii Loa campus, Le Jardin Academy, the mauka campus of Trinity Christian School and a day care center at Castle Medical Center went into lockdown during the search and students were not allowed outside of classrooms and designated areas.
The incident began at about 9 a.m. yesterday.
Police said two men brandishing a 38-caliber revolver robbed a Reynolds Recycling truck at Kealahou Street in Hawaii Kai. They got away in a 2009 black Mazda sedan and were pursued by police on Kalanianaole Highway through Waimanalo before abandoning their car on Auloa Road near Castle Junction.
At 11:20 a.m., police said they arrested four other suspects who fled from the car on suspicion of robbery — a 32-year-old Hawaii Kai man, a 27-year-old man with no local address, a Makiki man and a 20-year-old Papakolea woman. The woman was also arrested for drug possession.
Police reopened Kalanianaole Highway at Castle Junction and Kapaa Quarry Road at about 12:30 p.m. and gave the schools the all-clear to also reopen.
Hawaii Pacific University canceled classes at its Hawaii Loa campus yesterday afternoon and evening. All affected schools are scheduled to resume normal classes today.
