Honolulu police are investigating a series of burglaries that occurred early this morning in Kailua town.
The perpetrators smashed windows to several Kailua businesses at about 3:30 a.m., including Pieology and Mahaloha Burger on Hekili Street, also known as Merchant’s Row, to break into the businesses. They also smashed windows at Aloha Salads and Paniolos at Kailua Shopping Center.
Juan Torres, director of operations for Mahaloha Burger, said the business has been at its location in Kailua since 2015, and this is the first time anything of this extent has happened.
The repairs will be expensive, but no cash is kept in the restaurant overnight if that is what burglars were after.
“The message is we’ve all got to pull together,” he said. “If we see anybody suspicious, anything out of the ordinary…the message is to identify that and do something.”
He said he hoped to reopen as soon as possible because he has employees who want to get to work.
A few doors down, Pieology district manager Kim Weir also found the front glass door smashed, the first time it’s happened in about five years. She believes the suspects used a rock to smash it.
“I hope they catch them, of course, and we don’t want this to happen again,” she said. “They know now there’s nothing inside. Unless they want to make some pizzas, there’s nothing else to take.”
The door has been boarded up and will be replaced soon, she said, and the store plans to reopen at 11 a.m. today.
“We are working with the HPD to support their active investigation tied to the break-ins to businesses after-hours last night in Kailua,” a spokesperson for property owner Alexander & Baldwin said in an email. “We are deeply saddened by these unfortunate incidents that negatively impact our local community and area merchants, many of which are locally-owned and small businesses.”
Police are still investigating the incidents.