Honolulu police have linked two men in connection with a series of armed robberies, most of which were against kupuna in brazen home invasions.
Police identified Collin K. Ta’a, 32, and Keith K. Catolico, 40, as connected to an armed carjacking in Aiea in February and a home invasion robbery in Kailua in September. Authorities also identified Ta’a as a suspect in three other robberies in Waipahu, Waialae and Nuuanu-Punchbowl and Catolico as a suspect in a home invasion in Hawaii Kai.
All six cases involved victims age 60 and older. Charges against the men in those cases are pending.
Both Ta’a and Catolico are in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center on charges in other cases.
Acting Capt. Deena Thoemmes of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division said detectives of the Robbery Detail and Strategic Enforcement Detail conducted an extensive investigation into the robberies. “They made personal sacrifices in their family lives to complete these investigations so we can have a successful outcome of identifying the suspects. They did an excellent job,” she said.
The cases are now with the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for review. Scott Spallina, head of the department’s Elder Abuse Justice Unit, echoed Thoemmes’ sentiment. “Police did an excellent job in collecting evidence.”
In the carjacking case, police said two men initiated a fender bender near the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Radford Drive on the morning of Feb. 7. One of the men allegedly brandished a handgun at the 75-year-old driver of a white Ford van and demanded his vehicle. The same suspect then allegedly pushed the 62-year-old female passenger out of the van before the suspects drove off in the vehicle.
Police said the woman sustained injuries to her leg when the van struck her as the suspects fled the scene.
Police also linked the alleged robbers to a home invasion of a 77-year-old woman during the morning hours of Sept. 9. According to police, the two men entered a home in Kailua, physically restrained the homeowner and took money and jewelry from the residence.
Ta’a has been identified in an April 2020 robbery case involving a 60-year-old man in Waipahu. Ta’a is also identified as one of the suspects in two armed robberies at a Waialae home in December and a Nuuanu-Punchbowl home in January.
In the Waialae case, police said four male suspects tied up a couple in their mid-70s and took their personal belongings. In the Nuuanu-Punchbowl case, an 85-year-old resident said two male suspects kicked in a door to gain entry to his home on Pacific Heights Road. They bound him to a chair and took money and other items before they fled.
Police identified Catolico in a July home invasion robbery in Hawaii Kai where he and two other male suspects allegedly entered the home, pointed a handgun at a 74-year-old man and took his property.
Catolico is being held at OCCC on other cases that include robbery and kidnapping charges in a November robbery in Kahala where he and another male suspect allegedly bound a 76-year-old woman with zip ties and fled with cash and jewelry.
An Oahu grand jury also indicted Catolico in February as an accomplice in the Opal Fields jewelry store robbery at Waterfront Plaza, also known as Restaurant Row.
Ta’a also remains in custody at the correctional facility on charges in several other cases that include theft, forgery, identity theft, burglary, drugs, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
