Attempted kidnapping reported near Kapolei Elementary
A Kapolei Elementary School student reported that a stranger with a beard tried to kidnap him this morning as he was walking to school, but he managed to break free after kicking the man.
School Principal Cindy Otsu sent a letter to parents and guardians home with students this afternoon saying the boy was walking near Kaiau Avenue at about 8:10 a.m. when a man “grabbed him by the shoulders from behind and threatened to take him.”
The student kicked the man in the leg and the man fled, she wrote. Otsu said the student was unharmed.
The student reported the incident to school administrators, who reported it to police.
Otsu provided a description in the letter as a slim male, possibly in his 30s, with a beard, wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans and shoes.
“We encourage you to speak to your child about being safe when coming to school and when walking home,” she wrote.
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Police received the report shortly before 8:30 a.m. and have classified the case as an attempted kidnapping.
Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said she did not have information on the age of the student, but said the school has grades from kindergarten to fifth.
Dela Cruz said the case is unusual in that the suspect was on foot. “Usually reports that we get from students is that there is an individual in a van wanting to coax them over,” she said. “Thenature of this … this seems more aggressive, at least he took initiative to break free so in that sense it is different.
She said the letter to parents was sent to remind their children to always be on the look out and to report any incident immediately to an adult.
9 responses to “Attempted kidnapping reported near Kapolei Elementary”
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scary area
Allie hates child abusers.
Allie to you every place on this island is either scary or more crimes happens. Anyway you must come from the mountains. What was this child during walking alone at 8:10 a.m. to school? Near every public school they have crossing guards. Was this child near the school?
Sorry, not every school has grossing guards. Keone’ula Elementary does not have crossing guards.
Sounds like the boy was tardy. If the school had crossing guards, they’d be gone by then.
Good boy, next time kick ‘m where it counts and put him down. But you did the right thing. I’m glad you were brave enough to tell your administrators so they could get the police on it.
Bad idea to have a school in a building with an elevator, like the one that is proposed for Kaka’ako high rise. Once a kid is inside of the Otis, that’s it, you don’t know the child will end up.
This account leaves me with an uneasy feeling about how seriously to take this threat. If he noticed the man was bearded, wore a black hoody, blue jeans and shoes, surely the boy related a description about his ethnicity as well. He may not have been so clinical as to have said something like “melanin-lacking northern European” but he must’ve said something. If that detail was redacted so as not to offend or cast aspersions, then the S-A should clearly say so.
Looks like this forum is flaky again this morning. You can’t get access to comments when there are already 50 or more comments. The system seems to be setting a limit on the number of participants. No problem getting access to this article because last I saw, it only had 7 comments.
It’s difficult to explain the crazy behavior of the guy. We need to know more. The school seams clueless.