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Man charged with robbing woman stopped in Kalihi traffic

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COURTESY HAWAII CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA CENTER

Jordan Goetsch

Jordan Goetsch allegedly yelled that someone was trying to kill him on a tour bus on Sunday.

Within minutes of his outburst, he would jump out the bus window on the H-1 freeway, scale a barbed wire fence, and try to drive off in a woman’s SUV while she was seated in her driver’s seat, according to a police affidavit filed in Honolulu District Court on Tuesday.

Goetsch, 31, was charged Monday with second-degree robbery in connection with the incident. He had a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday and was being held at Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Police said the incident began at about 4:15 p.m. when a Grayline tour bus operator was driving Ewa-bound on H-1. The driver told police that Goetsch began to yell, “they’re trying to kill me” and pulled an emergency window release, the affidavit said.

When the driver pulled onto the shoulder near the Nimitz Highway offramp, Goetsch jumped out the window, ran off the freeway, and climbed a barbed wire fence to the Fort Shafter Flats military area.

About 15 minutes later, a 69-year-old woman was stopped in traffic on Middle Street in her Mazda SUV when she saw Goetsch running toward her.

He entered her unlocked front passenger door, sat in the passenger seat, searched her purse and took her iPhone, the affidavit said. Then Goetsch allegedly told her to drive because “they were going to kill him.”

When the woman refused, Goetsch jumped onto her lap and tried to drive with the woman still in the driver’s seat, the affidavit said.

The woman took out her key and ran away from her SUV.

Responding officers located Goetsch in the Marukai parking lot along Kamehameha Highway. He was arrested at 5:16 p.m. without further incident.

Police said the woman’s property was not found.

Goetsch has one state conviction on his record for misdemeanor assault in June.

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