Kalihi robbery suspects go to Family Court

Two juvenile males who are charged in separate robberies of a Kalihi convenience store within a week were turned over to Family Court on robbery charges, police said Thursday.

A 15-year-old male who allegedly held a 76-year-old female co-owner of the store in a chokehold Monday while his accomplices emptied the cash register has been charged with first-degree robbery.

A 17-year-old male who was one of three people who allegedly robbed the same store Friday has been charged with first-degree robbery.

On Thursday, police arrested another 17-year-old boy in the Friday robbery.

The names of the suspects were not released by police because they are minors. Their cases will be heard behind closed doors in Family Court.

The two were arrested Tuesday night after police released a store surveillance video of the woman being put in a chokehold in the Monday robbery.

Police said three suspects were involved in Monday’s robbery. The 15-year-old held store co-owner Ok Cha Kim in a chokehold while another took money from the cash register and a third acted as a lookout, police said.

Kim was treated at the hospital and was back at work Wednesday morning.

Three other males also robbed the same Gulick Avenue store Friday. During Friday’s robbery, three masked males approached 74-year-old Yong Son Kim, Kim’s husband and the store’s co-owner, armed with a knife and a stick, and demanded money.

Police are still seeking the other suspects.