A patron, a bouncer and a locked door prevented a 26-year-old man from fleeing an illegal game room in
Kalihi after he allegedly
attempted to rob it at gunpoint, according to court documents.
Police arrived at 1104 Palama St. Monday to find the bouncer had disarmed suspect Kilani Derego, who was lying in a pool of blood near the entrance.
With visible facial injuries, Derego appeared before Judge Lono Lee at Honolulu District Court Thursday morning, charged with one count of first-degree terroristic threatening and two counts of firearm-related charges in connection
with the game room robbery early Monday. His bail is set at $150,000.
Court documents allege that Derego, wearing a
ski mask, tried to rob the game room shortly before 3:30 a.m.
According to a police
affidavit, Derego wielded a black .22 caliber handgun at a bouncer then entered the main room yelling, “Everybody get down!” The
affidavit said Derego walked around the room pointing the firearm at patrons and staff.
An unknown male accomplice already inside the game room told Derego to get approximately $2,000 from the cashier, according to documents. Derego also ordered the cashier to give him money from her waist bag, the affidavit said. Derego gave the money and the cashier’s bag to the accomplice, who fled through a back door.
The affidavit said Derego then tried to get out through the front door, but it was locked. He scuffled with a patron who had followed him, and the bouncer grabbed Derego’s gun. As they fought over control of the firearm two or three rounds were discharged, striking the wall, documents say.
The bouncer disarmed Derego and subdued him until police arrived to find Derego “incapacitated” and lying in a pool of blood near the entrance. He was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition with head injuries and possible facial fractures.
The gun was recovered at the scene.
At the time of the robbery, Derego was free on a $150,000 bond pending a
retrial for murder in the
May 1, 2010, beating death of a taxicab driver in Waipahu.
Derego, then 17, and his childhood friend, Michael Robles, 18, were accused
of killing Charlys Ty Tang in the Waipahu Times Super Market parking lot. Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario in 2012 sentenced Derego to life in prison with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder.
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals overturned the murder conviction in 2015, ruling that the judge should not have allowed the state to present police statements from Robles as evidence. The appellate court sent the case back to Circuit Court for retrial, which is tentatively set for January.
Despite repeated objections by the state, Derego was released from prison
in July on a $150,000 bond pending the trial.