Kalihi resident John Corpus said he and his 85-year-old wife, Dolores, were on their early morning walk July 21, three blocks from their home, when a bicyclist snatched her purse and fled, leaving her lying on the pavement.
Corpus’ wife of 67 years died four days later at the hospital due to bleeding in the brain, he said.
Corpus, 82, said his wife had crossed Kamehameha IV Road ahead of him at the intersection of Kini Place, but he was unaware of the purse-snatching. Then he saw her lying in the crosswalk.
Dolores Corpus got up and noticed her purse containing $2,000 in cash was missing. The couple walked three blocks home, and she called the police.
The responding officer noticed she was bleeding and called an ambulance.
She was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center, where doctors discovered she had “a little bit bleeding” in her brain and admitted her, Corpus said.
“They called me up early in the morning,” saying they want to do surgery because of the bleeding, he said. “They called me back 20 minutes later. They said, ‘No sense. She stopped breathing. She’s not going to make it.’”
Police on Monday released surveillance video of the robber, now accused of manslaughter, and are asking for the public’s help in finding him.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the cause of death.
Born Oct. 24, 1933, on Maui, Dolores Corpus worked as a clerk at the old Kapalama GEM store, and later as a seamstress at her sister-in-law’s shop.
While single, John Corpus frequented a Filipino restaurant where Dolores’ sister worked as a waitress. She asked him whether he’d like to meet her sister. He agreed.
They married and adopted a son, who died at age 53 of a heart attack. They have a hanai daughter, Emelyn Damo, who visits often and “was close to my wife,” Corpus said.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.