3-strikes bill would ban Waikiki repeat offenders

The arrest of a juvenile suspect after a male tourist was robbed and assaulted by a mob on a Waikiki street could help bolster the argument for a Waikiki three-strikes law being proposed at the Legislature.

Police said a visitor from the mainland was approached by a group of nine or 10 males and females on Kalakaua Avenue near Macy’s Waikiki at about 3:50 a.m. Monday. The group allegedly swarmed the victim, demanding money, and took his wallet. The man sustained minor, non-life- threatening injuries in the assault, police said

After officers arrived and a witness identified a juvenile male allegedly involved in the attack, he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree robbery.

The incident might serve to underscore a bill put forward by Waikiki’s newly elected state Sen. Sharon Moriwaki that seeks to use geographic restrictions to make the state’s economic epicenter and most densely populated neighborhood safer.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Senate Bill 637 at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The bill would allow a judge to sentence a defendant who has been convicted of three misdemeanors in Waikiki to a probationary term prohibiting them from entering Waikiki from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Violators would face 30 days’ imprisonment.

Moriwaki (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako-McCully- Moiliili) said the bill is an outgrowth of Waikiki Neighborhood Board discussions about what to do about crime there.

Monday’s mob incident was followed by charges by prosecutors Wednesday against a 32-year-old man in connection with an attack on a 57-year-old male visitor who had been checking out of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. And a couple of months ago, police arrested a 24-year-old man after he allegedly stabbed another man in a drug deal gone bad in front of The Modern Honolulu hotel.

More than 200 Waikiki stakeholders, including law enforcement, military and Judiciary personnel, turned out in March for a Visitor Public Safety Conference, sponsored by the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association (HLTA) and then-city Councilman Trevor Ozawa. That gathering followed a December 2017 warning to military serv­ice members about the dangers of Waikiki from an Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board. The board, which ultimately did not place Waikiki establishments off-limits, had been reacting to three stabbings of military members, one fatal.

While violent crimes in Waikiki have been a major concern, the district more commonly struggles with property crimes and misdemeanors, especially from repeat offenders.

“I hear the kind of problems that have been brought up with the repeat offenders. This might be a deterrent — at least for having another option in the Honolulu Police Department’s toolbox to deal with it,” Moriwaki said. “I would encourage people who like the bill and those who don’t to come out (to Wednesday’s hearing).”

Rick Egged, Waikiki Improvement Association president, said the bill is patterned after a geographic restriction that was placed on Waikiki prostitutes in the late 1990s.

“The restrictions that were placed on prostitutes were very effective,” Egged said. “This bill is intriguing, but we haven’t yet taken a stand.”

David Moskowitz, an advocate of Moriwaki’s bill, said police had told him that geographical restrictions would help them become more effective in Waikiki, where rising assaults and thefts threaten the economy’s crown jewel.

“Thugs and thieves and just plain bad people head into Waikiki from the surrounding areas to plunder the wealth as they see fit and/or just attack people for fun and games,” he said. “Senate Bill 637 is a way to reduce the number or incidents of bad behavior by bad people.”

Police reported no other arrests from Monday’s robbery and did not release any details about other possible suspects.