A public meeting to address illegal game rooms and cockfighting on Oahu’s west side on Wednesday was marked by emotional public input, allegations of public corruption and pleas to end the proliferation of guns in the community.
The “Tough on Crime” community town hall organized by City Council member Andria Tupola featured Honolulu police Maj. Mike Lambert, a former narcotics vice detective who assumed control of the division in March, and Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm.
More than 50 community members attended the meeting at the Kamehameha Schools Community Learning Center in Maili.
Among those who spoke was Miguel Agoo Sr., whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed May 21 in the parking lot at Makaha Beach. Two people, a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, have been accused in the death of Miguel Agoo Jr. His father urged the community to come together. He noted the prevalence of ghost guns, which do not have serial numbers, and talked to Lambert about how things have changed from the days of fighting with fists to everybody packing firearms.
“Everything you guys say, it’s easy to say … they making guns, they making ghost guns, these kids playing with automatic guns,” Agoo Sr. said. “One man is broken … what if a kid goes into an elementary school and kills kids? We need everybody to pull together, instead of all the jibber- jabber.”
The west side has been home to several high-profile gun deaths this year. On April 14, a mass shooting at a cockfight took the lives of Gary Rabellizsa Jr., 34, and Cathy Rabellizsa, 59, and injured three men ages 38, 40 and 57.
Community members also voiced frustration with gambling dens, drug houses and the collateral crimes associated with them.
Last year, crime dropped in five of seven categories in police District 8, which includes Ewa, Ewa Beach, West Loch, Barbers Point, Kapolei, Makakilo, Campbell Industrial Park, Honokai Hale, Koolina, Nanakuli, Maili, Waianae, Makaha, Makua and Kaena.
There were seven murders in District 8 in 2022, compared with five in 2021. Rape fell from 77 in 2021 to 76 last year and robberies increased from 102 in 2021 to 109 in 2022. Aggravated assaults dropped from 297 to 268; burglaries went down from 549 in 2021 to 401 last year; larceny fell from 2,889 in 2021 to 2,586; and car thefts declined from 661 in 2021 to 503 in 2022.
For about the first 30 minutes of the public meeting, Tupola moderated a discussion between Alm and Lambert about the plan for making gambling and drug cases.
“Tonight’s meeting is about public safety,” Tupola said. “What we’re concerned with is having more police presence to respond to these cases.”
Lambert, who was named detective of the year in 2016 for his ability to make gambling and drug cases, said many of the police takedowns of drug houses and illegal game rooms start with tips from the community.
“The ones that are in our neighborhoods are a big deal. … We’ve had shootings and we’ve had robberies … what we don’t want is our keiki, our kupuna … coming down the street and getting caught in that,” Lambert said. “We need specific information … we will take action.”
Addresses, first and last names of alleged offenders, detailed summaries of criminal activity, and license plate numbers are needed, he said.
To report drug and gambling offenses 24 hours a day, Oahu residents can call 808-723-3933, Tupola said.
Alm detailed the evolution of gambling offenses from the days of continual misdemeanor cases and $50 fines that were the “cost of doing business.” He told the story of a two-year HPD undercover operation that led to a civil forfeiture proceeding of a notorious drug house in Chinatown that is today the home to an HPD substation.
“It went from a crack house to a police station,” Alm said.
He reiterated his belief that civil asset forfeiture proceedings and nuisance abatement efforts are critical to permanently shutting down locations that house illegal activity. He pointed to the successful shutdown of game rooms in the McCully area that he uses as a test case for filing civil actions in court against property owners to end the operations.
Alm is assigning a deputy prosecutor full time to the task who will also assist with gambling search warrants.
“I’m a big believer in doing that, asset forfeiture,” he said. “We’re in the process of working cases with them (police) … filing lawsuits, that’s what it’s going to take.”
During the public comment period, Sabrina Grace-Dereis stood up and stated that she was an informant and wore a wire for the U.S. Department of Justice during the late ’80s and early ’90s during efforts to shut down cockfights and illegal gambling.
She shared a binder with Alm, Tupola and Lambert that contained photos and documentation she said were of businesses and people involved in organized drug and gambling operations. She alleged elected officials had family members involved and named three Honolulu police officers she accused of taking money from organized crime. Her comments could not be immediately verified.
“It’s a shame,” said Grace-Dereis, amid a contentious back and forth.
As she left the event, Council staff told her to calm down and that she had to go.
