Alleged purse snatcher is found not guilty of robbery

After deliberating a little over a day, a 1st Circuit Court jury found Skylar Hubbard not guilty of second-degree robbery in connection with a purse snatching in Waikiki.

A grand jury indicted Hubbard last year for alleged robbery on April 7 of Reina Itoh, a 21-year-old Japanese woman who was walking with her friend Chisaki Yama­hata on the sidewalk on Kalia Road near the intersection with Paoa Place at about 12:55 a.m. when a suspect grabbed Itoh’s purse.

Yamahata, who attempted to intervene, was allegedly kicked and punched in the face, according to court documents.

A good Samaritan chased and tackled the suspect, whom witnesses had identified as Hubbard, and recovered Itoh’s purse.

Police later arrested Hubbard at the intersection of Royal Hawaiian Avenue and Lauula Street on suspicion of robbery and assault.

His defense attorney, Henry Ting, told jurors that the description of witnesses failed to match 30-year-old Hubbard, who had white hair at the time and was carrying a wand. Witnesses said the suspect had brown hair and was wearing a hat.

“There’s been a lot of these kinds of crimes … a lot of violent purse snatchings. We do need to catch and prosecute the people who commit those crimes, but we need to catch the right people,” Ting told jurors during the trial.

The women were taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries. One sustained lacerations to her right hand from her purse chain strap when the suspect yanked it away; the other suffered a contusion to her forehead.