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This video shows Hardy Gabriel snatching a purse from a 73-year-old woman in Chinatown. Gabriel was found guilty of the crime Thursday.
Video courtesy Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
COURTESY STATE OF HAWAII
Hardy Gabriel
An Oahu Circuit Court jury found an 18-year-old man guilty on Thursday of second-degree robbery for forcefully taking a 73-year-old woman’s purse from her shoulder.
Hardy Gabriel will be sentenced April 20 and could get up to 10 years in prison for the Class B felony.
Surveillance video captured the purse snatching on May 11 on College Walk near North Kukui Street.
“Gabriel ripped the purse from his elderly victim’s shoulder by breaking the purse strap,” and fled in a waiting getaway car, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.
Deputy prosecutor Scott Spallina said, “The video and testimony from the victim and HPD were instrumental in securing the conviction.”
Acting Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Nadamoto said: “People in Honolulu have a right to be angry about all the purse snatchings, car jackings, and violent crimes — particularly crimes against senior citizens. The Prosecutor’s Office is aggressively working with police to bring the people who commit these crimes to justice.”
Gabriel has prior convictions, including third-degree assault and being in a public park after hours. He is awaiting trial for felony drug promotion.
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