Police are investigating a burglary in which a Wahiawa couple says thousands of dollars in cash, jewelry and a semi-automatic weapon were stolen from their home, and say the case serves as a reminder that residents should be mindful of where they store their cash and valuables.
The burglary received attention after the wife, who did not want to be identified, posted on social media last week that while they were out of town from Oct. 20 to 22, items and cash totaling more than $30,000 were stolen from safes in their house in a quiet neighborhood near Wahiawa Elementary School.
Among the stolen items were an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, thousands in cash, and all the wife’s jewelry, including gold bracelets and earrings, and diamond rings, bracelets and pendants.
Police Lt. Gail Beckley of the Wahiawa district’s burglary/theft detail said the most alarming aspect of the burglary is the theft of the gun.
While these homeowners had stored their semi-automatic in a gun safe and are not the first to have a gun stolen, Beckley used the opportunity to share recommendations on the overall use of safes in the home. Gun owners, she said, should store their weapons in a gun safe to prevent accidental discharge, “especially if you have a family.”
Fire safes may protect documents from a fire but to protect against theft, safes should be secure and bolted down, she said.
Beckley also recommends residents not store cash and large amounts of jewelry at home, but rather in a bank safe deposit box.
The woman’s husband, Ryan Dillon, said two of three safes that were broken into were for fire protection and were unlocked. The third, however, was locked, and Dillon said the burglars broke into it using his tools from the basement.
He also said that the stolen money, between $2,500 and $5,000, was petty cash he uses for his masonry business.
He said his wife’s Facebook post Sunday on the Stolen Stuff Hawaii group went viral, but “there was so much gnarliness they had to take off what people are saying.”
“I don’t care if people are judgmental,” he said. “I feel it’s more helping than hurting.”
His wife said she doubts she will ever see their property again, but she felt compelled to warn her neighbors so they can better protect their own homes.
Dillon said the burglars apparently broke in by using their children’s plastic slide to climb to a window and removed the jalousies. They then went to the master bedroom where they found all his wife’s jewelry, he said.
Everything they took would have fit inside a backpack, Dillon said. Later, however, stand-up paddleboards stored outside were discovered missing. He said he wasn’t sure when they were taken.
The wife said there have been several other break-ins in the neighborhood. She said her home is about a quarter-mile from the police station. A wooded area and river connected to Lake Wilson run behind their property.
The Dillons speculate people living in the forest on the opposite side of the river behind their home may be responsible for the burglary.
“There’s people lurking in the forest,” Dillon said. He said he found a fresh trail across 6-foot-tall grass, and one of those who made negative comments on Facebook posted a photo from the opposite side of the river.
Beckley said she sent a detective out to investigate twice. He walked the trail from their house, but the trail led to the water’s edge, and there was no way to walk to the house, except by going around the lake.
Beckley said that the Wahiawa town area gets on average one or two burglaries a week, a small number compared with Mililani, which also is in her district.
Dillon said the people in the forest have a boat. He said police aren’t doing enough and should be interviewing neighbors and the forest dwellers as well, adding that he isn’t ruling out other possible suspects.
Police are following up on leads, but there have been no arrests, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department said.
Dillon said another thing the burglars took is the family’s sense of security.
“I’m not trying to scare people,” he said. “But I want people to know my son can’t be in a room by himself without someone being there with him. Why is this happening? It happens everywhere. Most people don’t do that except for people who are high on drugs.”
“I don’t trust anyone,” Dillon said. He even questions his own employees.
After the burglary, the Dillons got two pit-bull crossbreed puppies, a security system and surveillance cameras for “a little bit of peace of mind.”
“I’ve never been violated like this,” Dillon said.
