Sheriff’s deputies, with help from courthouse security guards, have solved the Case of the Missing Kisses.
A 36-year-old man on trial for forgery, resisting arrest and attempted theft was waiting for the jury to return its verdicts Thursday when he fell asleep in one of the witness rooms at the state courthouse on Punchbowl Street.
When Justin Abas woke up, it was after 4:30 p.m. and the building was closed. So he made his way down to the first floor to find an exit.
When security guards showed up for work Friday morning, they noticed that a jar of Hershey’s Kisses was missing from the rear-entrance checkpoint. One of the guards reported the theft to state sheriff deputies assigned to the courthouse.
Security video captured images of only the back of the thief.
As the deputies and security guards were looking at the video, another guard from the front entrance joined them. She told them she recognized the person as someone who had been entering the building at her checkpoint.
She promised she would notify the deputies if the person showed up again.
When Abas entered the courthouse later that morning, the security guard pointed him out to deputies, who arrested him on suspicion of fourth-degree theft. That’s a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and $1,000 fine.
The deputies were going to take Abas to their Keawe Street booking station but decided instead to let him remain free so he would be available when the jury returned its verdicts.
The jurors found Abas not guilty of forgery and attempted theft but guilty of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.
Honolulu police arrested Abas on July 30, 2013, when he tried to purchase soda and water at a Waipahu gas station convenience store with a counterfeit $100 bill.
Abas said he found the bill and didn’t know it was counterfeit, but agreed to wait until police arrived. But when the officers attempted to arrest him, Abas ran.
They caught up with him about a half-mile away and charged him with resisting.
But apparently the candy was too much to resist.
