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A 30-year-old homeless man released from police custody in the stabbing death of a Waialae Avenue news vendor last year will make his initial appearance in Honolulu District Court on Monday for allegedly attacking a woman with a bat while trying to take her purse in the parking lot of a Sports Authority.
Gary Landis was charged Friday with first-degree robbery and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. His bail was set at $125,000. He remains in police custody.
Landis was arrested Friday for allegedly attacking the 75-year-old woman in a robbery attempt Thursday morning.
It’s the second time Landis has been arrested since his release June 3 in the slaying of 70-year-old newspaper vendor Thaddeus "Ted" Pirga Jr. on Waialae Avenue in November.
Police said Landis allegedly attacked a woman who caught him trying to break into her car in the parking lot of Sports Authority on Ward Avenue. Landis allegedly hit her with a baseball bat while trying to steal her purse at 10:10 a.m.
The woman was taken to a hospital where she was treated and released, police said.
Officers chased after Landis on foot and arrested him 30 minutes later near the Ward Gateway Center on suspicion of first-degree attempted robbery and breaking into a car.
On June 5 officers cited Landis at 2:15 a.m. for being at Kapiolani Park after it closed. The citation is a petty misdemeanor which carries a maximum jail term of 30 days.
On June 2, a week after his release from Oahu Community Correctional Center, officers arrested Landis on suspicion of murder in the Nov. 9 death of Pirga. He was released the following day, pending investigation.
Landis had been confined at OCCC for seven months. He was convicted of second-degree robbery in February, sentenced to four months’ probation May 26 and released May 27.