Two burglars broke into a Portlock home Tuesday morning, kept a startled teenage resident at bay and made off with valuables that included the wedding ring and other jewelry that once belonged to the family’s late matriarch.
Ryan Johnson, 13, woke up at about 10 a.m. and noticed two strangers in the home he shares with his father, Robert, and 17-year-old sister, A.J.
The teenage boy came face to face in the hallway with one of the burglars, who was "just as shocked as he was to see someone else was in the house," Robert Johnson said.
The intruders told the teen that they did not want to hurt him, took his cellphone, warned him not to call 911 and then coerced him into pointing out where the family kept its valuables, Robert Johnson said.
"They asked him, ‘Where’s the good stuff?’" he said.
The burglars appeared to have first gone into the master bedroom, where they used a crowbar to pry loose a bolted safe that contained jewelry and other items belonging to Robert Johnson’s late wife, Ulrike "Bieni" Kohler Johnson, who died in 2009 after a battle with breast cancer, Johnson said.
The Johnsons have lived in their Poipu Drive home since 1998.
Among the items taken was the 1.2-carat solitary diamond ring with a gold band he had given his wife on their wedding day, Johnson said.
He said police believe the 2 1⁄2-by-2 1⁄2-foot safe was flung over the master bedroom balcony, where it rolled down the property’s steep front yard and onto a sidewalk, where it was likely picked up by a waiting getaway vehicle. The burglars also made off with laptops, computer tablets, digital cameras and cellphones, Johnson said.
Johnson estimated the burglars were in the house for about five minutes before they discovered his son. Johnson was at work and A.J. was staying at a friend’s house at the time of the burglary.
About five minutes after the men began ordering Ryan around, they received a phone call and left a short time later, Johnson said.
It’s unclear how the men entered the home. Robert Johnson said he believes he locked all the windows and doors to the house, except for a kitchen window over a sink.
Ryan Johnson has a photographic memory and gave descriptions of the suspects to police, his father said. One of the men is described as having multiple tattoos on his neck and leg.
Police said a kidnapping and burglary case has been opened.
Since her death, a 3-mile fun run has been held annually in Waimea on Hawaii island in honor of Bieni Kohler Johnson. Proceeds benefit a scholarship for female scholar-athletes attending her high school alma mater, Hawaii Preparatory Academy. She was the daughter of Adi Kohler, longtime general manager of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in South Kohala.
