Older brother of teen killed in Honolulu police shooting charged with robbery
COURTESY HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT
Mark Sykap, 18
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Honolulu Police Department held an investigation at Kalakaua Avenue and Phillip Street, April 5, where a suspect was shot by police and died later that evening.
Prosecutors charged an 18-year-old man in connection with Saturday’s robbery near a makeshift memorial in McCully.
The memorial was created for his younger brother, 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap, whom police fatally shot after he rammed through police cars with a stolen vehicle in oncoming traffic April 5 following an alleged crime spree.
Mark Sykap was charged Monday with second-degree robbery. He was released after posting a $50,000 bail bond and is scheduled to appear Thursday at his arraignment at Honolulu District Court.
Second-degree robbery is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Police said two men, ages 18 and 21, used physical force and an unspecified dangerous instrument to force a 20-year-old woman to relinquish her property at about 1:10 a.m. Saturday. The men then fled the scene.
Police said the suspects and victim are acquaintances.
The woman was treated and released at a hospital for a nonlife-threatening stab wound to her upper torso that she sustained in the robbery.
Police conducted an investigation and arrested one of the suspects, identified as Sykap, that night at or near the makeshift memorial at Kalakaua Avenue and Philip Street. The other suspect remains at large.
This is the third time police arrested Sykap this month.
Officers arrested him April 5 in connection with an alleged crime spree with his younger brother and others.
Police said the younger Sykap was driving a stolen Honda that has been linked to an armed robbery in Moiliili 20 minutes before officers spotted the vehicle at Kawaikui Beach Park in East Oahu. The stolen vehicle was also linked to a purse-snatching, burglary and car theft.
A police pursuit ensued April 5 and ended when the Honda, occupied by six people, headed into oncoming traffic on Kalakaua Avenue. The Honda rammed through police cars and into a canal after officers fired seven to eight shots at the vehicle.
Iremamber Sykap died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Police arrested Mark Sykap at the scene on suspicion of three counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. He was released pending further investigation.
Nearly two weeks later police arrested Sykap at or near the makeshift memorial site at about 3:15 a.m. April 18 for investigation of disorderly conduct. He was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court in June.
