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Police have arrested two men and a woman in connection with a violent robbery attempt at a Waikele jewelry store April 9 in which two men used a shotgun and a hammer but could not penetrate hardened merchandise cases.
Meanwhile, sources say police believe one of the men involved in the robbery at Waikele Premium Outlets was Mark Ahnee. Ahnee was killed April 14 in a shootout with police at the end of a series of auto thefts and carjackings in East Honolulu.
A 46-year-old Waipahu man arrested Wednesday is believed to have been the driver of a getaway car, not one of two men who entered the jewelry store, police said. The man, of Kuhaulua Street, was arrested at a Kahuamoku Street address in Waipahu at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. He was at the police cellblock yesterday afternoon pending a charge of first-degree robbery.
A 21-year-old Manoa man arrested today in Waipahu is suspected of participating in the robbery attempt and of burning the getaway car, police said. Also arrested today was a 19-year-old Wahiawa woman who was present in the getaway car when the robbery attempt occurred, police said.
Two men entered the Zales store at about 8:40 p.m. April 9 and attempted to take merchandise, police said. They failed to break the glass on the cases; store security video showed one of the men firing a sawed-off shotgun while another swung a hammer in an attempt to break the glass.
The men fled without taking any merchandise, police said. Witnesses obtained a license plate number for a silver Honda Civic, which had been reported stolen. The car was found in flames at Lelepua Street and Leomana Place, in the Crestview section of Waipahu about 1.5 miles away. Witnesses said the men got into a second car, which allegedly was driven by the suspect arrested Wednesday.
Sources told the Star-Advertiser that police believe one of the men who entered the store was Mark Ahnee, 28, who was shot and killed by police officers at Kalanianaole Highway and Ainakoa Avenue on April 14 after he fired a sawed-off shotgun at police officers. Michael Manning Jr., who is believed to have been Ahnee’s partner in the auto theft spree, is not a suspect in the Waikele jewelry store robbery, sources said.
Correction: Police arrested two men and a woman in connection with the Zales robbery. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said three men were arrested.
