Charade Keane, the homeless woman whom pro golfer Robert Allenby credits with saving his life after he was robbed in Honolulu, says she couldn’t ignore a person who needed help.
Keane, 42, was riding her bicycle when she saw Allenby sitting on a planter at the Diamond Head-makai corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Piikoi Street with a bloodied face at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Honolulu police have opened a second-degree robbery case.
Allenby, who last recalled having dinner at Amuse Wine Bar at the Honolulu Design Center, was sitting across the street from the design center.
Allenby, Keane said, was talking with two homeless men she knows, and she thought the men were helping him. She said the two men mentioned that Allenby had hit his head on a rock.
"They started arguing when I got up there, and I realized this wasn’t well. I need to get him out of here," she recalled. She said the men were trying to rob him. "I just wanted him to get away, because I wasn’t sure of the situation. They started arguing again.
"I just told him, ‘Walk with me,’" she added. "I was happy he trusted me."
She said the men continued to follow her and Allenby as they walked briskly down the block toward the Original Pancake House on Kapiolani Boulevard.
As they were walking away, Allenby remarked that all his belongings were gone, but he had a loose credit card in his pocket. As they followed, she said, she figured the men wanted Allenby to take money out of an ATM.
She said Allenby told her he would give them $500 for his wallet and phone back, and she went back to the men and presented the offer. The men told her they didn’t have his phone, but to tell Allenby that they did have it and would give it back if he gave them the money.
She returned to Allenby and told him what they said and that he needed to get out of there.
"They were following us and that felt spooky," Keane said. "I was glad that God sent another angel, too, because I needed help at that point."
The "angel" Keane referred to was a young EMT in the military who came up to help the bloodied Allenby.
That spooked the men following them, she said.
"When they saw that, they realized there was more people there, and they took off," Keane said.
Allenby, who was here for the Sony Open golf tournament, told a slightly different version of events to "Sunrise" on Channel 7 in Australia.
"There was two homeless guys that were kicking me," he said in a live interview from Hawaii. "I don’t know if they were trying to wake me up or see if I was alive. And then this lady that was homeless, she was the one that kind of saved me and scared them away.
"And then we were running down the street away from those two," he said. "And then when this guy came from the military, I was crying and obviously beaten up.
"I just said to him, ‘I just want to go back to my hotel and get the police and ambulance there. I just need to be somewhere safe,’" Allenby said.
Allenby said the incident began after he had dinner at Amuse Wine Bar, paid his bill and went to the bathroom at about 11 p.m.
When he walked out of the bathroom, someone told him his friend was downstairs waiting for him.
"I walked around the corner, and then bang."
The next thing he remembered, he said, was being on a street. He said Keane told him he was picked up out of a trunk and thrown.
"I was very fortunate," he said. "A homeless lady pretty much saved my life."
Allenby said he will thank the woman and the man who helped him.
"I will give her something and also the guy from the military that helped me as well," he said. "I will definitely make a call to him. He paid for the taxi to get out of there."
Homeless people at Ala Moana Beach Park said Keane told them about the robbery shortly after it happened at about 2 a.m. Saturday.
Several said Keane is known to help people in need.
"She’s always out trying to help," said a man who only gave his first name as Moki. "Trying to fix the world."
Keane said while waiting for a taxi, Allenby told her about his life, how he was excited to play on the PGA tour with Tiger Woods, and about his two children, who mean a lot to him.
"He did most of the talking," she said. "I didn’t have much to say. I’m homeless."
She said Allenby didn’t find out she was homeless until he asked for her number as he was getting into the cab.
She gave him the number of her boyfriend’s father, Jacob Aio, and told Allenby she lives near the tennis courts at Ala Moana Beach Park.
Aio told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he received a call from a police lieutenant seeking more information about the robbery.
The incident, which has received international attention, has cast a rare negative shadow on the high-profile Sony Open and the state’s long-standing relationship with the PGA tour.
The Sony Open in Hawaii is one of several sporting events that receives direct funding from the state.
Hawaii Tourism Authority Vice President David Uchiyama issued this written statement Sunday:
"This was an unfortunate incident, and anytime something like this involves a visitor to our islands, the HTA takes the situation very seriously. It is also important to remember that this was an isolated incident, and Hawaii remains one of the safest travel destinations in the world. We understand that the authorities are conducting a thorough investigation, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops."
