Hawai‘i Police Department
Area II Criminal Investigation Section
Detective Cacique Melendez
Phone: (808) 326-4646, Ext. 262
Report No.: 23-120469
Media Release
Hawai‘i island police are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect responsible for a robbery at a South Kohala restaurant on Friday night, December 22, 2023.
At approximately 10:55 p.m., on Friday, South Kohala patrol officers responded to a restaurant in the 69-0000 block of Ku‘uali‘i Place in Waikoloa, after a 44-year-old male employee reported that while he was sitting in his office he heard the door open and a male voice demand the money from the safe. The employee reported being struck in the face with an open hand slap three times during the course of the robbery, with the suspect exiting the establishment with cash from the safe.
Shortly thereafter, a witness reported seeing a pickup truck (unknown make/model) leaving the area traveling north.
The suspect is described as a local male, approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, wearing a gray hoodie, black pants, black shoes, and a disposable light blue face mask.
The Area II Criminal Investigation Section is continuing this investigation.
Police ask anyone who may know the identity of the suspect to call the police department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311, or Detective Cacique Melendez of the Area II Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 326-4646, ext. 262 or email Cacique.Melendez@hawaiicounty.gov.
