HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
DETECTIVE GRACE CASTILLO
PHONE: 961-2377
SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
G-42844
MEDIA RELEASE
A 43-year-old Hilo man was arrested and charged Monday (September 25, 2000) with second-degree robbery after he allegedly punched a female victim and took her purse.
The suspect was identified as Douglas Kekaualua, 43, of Hilo. He was being held in the Hilo police cellblock in lieu of $5,000 bail.
At 10:55 a.m., a female reported she was attacked by a man who stole her purse at the intersection of Piilani and Mililani Streets.
The victim said her assailant punched her in her head, chest and abdomen, then grabbed her purse. The woman said that when she pleaded with the suspect to return her purse because it contained all her identification and papers, the suspect rummaged through her purse and, failing to find any cash, returned it to her. He then took 50 cents in coins that had fallen from her apron and ran away.
Later, a Hilo patrol officer recognized a man matching the suspect’s description on Kekuanaoa Street and arrested him. The witness identified the suspect as the man who robbed her.
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