An Oahu grand jury has indicted a 25-year-old Kalihi man who allegedly robbed a poker game in Makiki and assaulted police officers as they detained him.
Samuel Hufanga has been ordered to appear in District Court today for his preliminary hearing on four counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, first-degree theft, auto theft and assault on a law enforcement officer in the first degree in connection with a Jan. 10 incident.
Bail is set at $100,000.
According to a police affidavit, Hufanga entered a “poker game room” on Young Street armed with an airsoft gun and grabbed money off a poker table. He also allegedly stole the keys to a man’s Lexus sport utility vehicle and fired shots from his pellet gun at people at the location.
Hufanga fled in the Lexus with $1,100 in cash and an iPhone belonging to another victim, police said.
Another suspect, who had entered the game room with Hufanga carrying a crowbar and a baseball bat, fled in a separate vehicle, police said.
With the help of the owner of the stolen iPhone and his tracking app, police spotted Hufanga 15 minutes after the robbery in the stolen Lexus on Ahonui Street in Kalihi. Hufanga allegedly fled on foot and officers used pepper spray to detain him. Police said that during a struggle, he struck an officer in the face with his elbow. Another officer who helped restrain Hufanga suffered minor injuries to his right leg and lower back.
Police said the other suspect remains at large.
Robbery suspect allegedly caught on video
A business owner caught a teenager allegedly burglarizing his business while viewing it on his video surveillance monitor, police said.
The business’s alarm was activated at 1:51 a.m. Wednesday, and the owner watched in real time as a 17-year-old boy took money from the cash register, police said. Meanwhile another juvenile suspect stood outside watching, police said.
Police found the suspects nearby, identified and arrested the 17-year-old on suspicion of second-degree robbery. The two were released to their parents pending investigation.
