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A 95-year-old man recalled how a vendor kindly gave him money to cover his bus fare so he could
return home after a 49-year-old man allegedly snatched his wallet at a market in Chinatown in January.
“He took my wallet and run away, so I was helpless. I cannot pay, I do not have my bus pass,” testified Lupo Fernandez through
an Ilocano interpreter Monday.
Remik Ungeni appeared at his trial before Judge Russel Nagata at Honolulu District Court on a fourth-degree theft charge in connection with the
brazen theft on Jan. 16.
Ungeni is accused of grabbing Fernandez’s
wallet just after he put it
on a counter at the Oahu Market. Ungeni pleaded
not guilty to the theft charge Monday through a Chuukese interpreter.
Fourth-degree theft is a petty misdemeanor that carries penalties of up to
30 days in jail.
Fernandez, a small, thin man, walked slowly across the courtroom to the stand Monday where a bailiff
assisted him with placing
a hearing device — similar in size to headphones —
on his ears before he began his testimony at Ungeni’s trial.
Ungeni, wearing a tan T-shirt and bluejeans, sat quietly next to his interpreter at the defense table as Fernandez described how he went to the market Jan. 16 to buy fish at the
88 Fresh Fish Market in
the Oahu Market.
He said he was about to pay the vendor and showed how he placed his wallet on his counter at the market. “Then somebody took my wallet and then ran away,” he testified.
The theft sparked outrage in the community after surveillance footage of the theft was widely circulated on social media. The video also showed Fernandez standing next to the counter in shock after his wallet was taken.
Two days after the wallet snatching, police arrested Ungeni at the Mayor Wright Homes complex after a brief chase.
During Monday’s trial, deputy public defender
Jason Onishi asked Fernandez whether he saw the face of the person who
took his wallet. He testified he could not see the
culprit’s face because the thief had already fled.
Ungeni’s trial will resume Wednesday.
He remains in custody
at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $11,000 bail for a separate theft charge involving an 80-year-old woman at the same establishment six months ago.
He is scheduled to go to trial in April at Circuit Court for a second-degree theft charge. Ungeni is accused of grabbing the woman’s wallet or small purse from her hand at the Oahu
Market.
Second-degree theft is a Class C felony that carries penalties of up to five years in prison.
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