Aid of witness leads to arrest of 2 wanted in Kalihi robbery

Alert police officers and an observant witness led to the capture last week of two men wanted for allegedly impersonating police officers to rob a convenience store in Kalihi.

Lyle Castro, 26, and Canaan Pa, 30, were indicted Wednesday by an Oahu grand jury on second-degree robbery charges. Both remained at Oahu CommunityCorrectional Center on Wednesday, unable to post $30,000 bail.

According to court documents, the robbery occurred about 3:50 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Budget Mini Mart, 1435 Middle St.

Three men entered the store and identified themselves to the owner as "police officers" with "paper to seize the game machines," the court documents said.

One witness told police he was in the store when the men entered and heard one say, "We’re the cops." The witness said a second man gave some yellow-colored paperwork to the owner, and one of the suspects pushed the owner while telling her to get out of his way. Police said the woman suffered minor injuries.

The witness said one of the men had a dark-colored bag containing a pair of bolt cutters, which the assailants used to cut a chain securing a game machine. The men left the store with two game machines and got into a white Ford Windstar van with an unknown woman in the driver’s seat.

The witness gave police the license plate number, which police used to determine that the van was registered to Castro.Crime Reduction Unit police officers recognized Castro from numerous police contacts and knew he frequented game rooms in Kalihi, the documents said.

The officers made several checks at game rooms and less than an hour after the alleged robbery found Castro at 1825 Dillingham Blvd. The witness identified Castro as a suspect, and officers recovered the stolen items.

The same witness identified Pa in a photographic lineup as the man who handed the paperwork to the business owner and who also carried out one of the machines. Police found Pa at a Waipahu home the following day.