An 85-year-old Liliha woman, accused of setting her rented house on fire Feb. 28, was indicted Tuesday by an Oahu grand jury on the charge of first-degree arson, a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Beverly Shimabukuro, a former waitress at the Pagoda Floating Restaurant, had lived in the rental for 50 years, but the rental agreement was being terminated because the owner plans to sell the house at 1662 Olona Lane.
The grand jury confirmed bail at $50,000, and she remains jailed at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.
The grand jury charged Shimabukuro with intentionally or knowingly setting fire to the property, and damage to the house exceeding $20,000, which constitutes first-degree arson.
The landlord said the neighbors, whose homes are so close together, were terrified their homes would burn.
The arresting police officer said in a written declaration that she overheard Shimabukuro tell an Emergency Medical Services supervisor, who was taking her vital signs, that she piled items in her closet, poured some liquid on them, poured water around the pile and “lit it on fire.”
Shimabukuro’s landlord, 79, who asked not to be named, said, “We want a humane ending. We don’t think she’s a criminal. I’m hoping for a better ending.”
However, she did agree to prosecute. She said police told her that if Shimabukuro is released, she is a free agent and could hurt herself, so the landlord felt she had little choice.
The landlord said her husband died in 2023 and instructed her in his will to immediately sell or rebuild the house where he was born — built in the 1940s and renovated in 1972 — “because it was a fire hazard.”
The landlord said she and her husband had been married three years, and although he had many properties, the two Olona Lane houses were at the top of the list.
The landlord said Shimabukuro paid her rent, which she said is “ridiculously low,” and gave Shimabukuro 45 days’ notice prior to the Feb. 15 move-out deadline. When the tenant failed to respond to the certified letters, the landlord sent her real estate agent to see her. She asked for more time, so the agent extended the date to the end of the month.
On the night of Sept. 27, the landlord hung a small gift on her back door, thanking her for being a good tenant.
The landlord said she never imagined Shimabukuro would burn down the house.
She said Shimabukuro declined her help to find an apartment to live in, so the landlord searched and found one on Kapiolani Boulevard that costs a bit more. But Shimabukuro declined that as well.
Although the house looks intact from the outside, with a little charring around a window noticeable from the front of the house, the landlord said the inside is badly damaged. She discovered a photo of Shimabukuro’s son amid the rubble.
The landlord said she has seen a photo of Shimabukuro smiling, part of a September 2004 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article commemorating the Pagoda Hotel and Floating Restaurant’s 40th anniversary. Shimabukuro began serving at the restaurant the day it opened in 1964 and was still serving patrons in 2004.
Shimabukuro’s longtime neighbor, who asked not to be named, recalls that Shimabukuro was fine at that time — pleasant, but when her son died a long time ago from an illness in his 30s or 40s, she changed.
She didn’t go out much and kept to herself, the neighbor said. Shimabukuro hardly spoke to the neighbor, but they were cordial and exchanged greetings.
IF YOU NEED HELP
For anyone facing eviction, here are a few resources:
>> The Mediation Center of the Pacific: 808ne.ws/431NCop
>> State Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions Eviction Prevention Resources: 808ne.ws/3T33ceP
>> State Landlord-Tenant Hotline: 808-586-2634
>> Legal Aid Society of Hawaii: 808-536-4302
>> State Homeless Emergency Grant (SHEG) program. Catholic Charities Hawaii administers the SHEG program statewide: 808ne.ws/3V9iMIr
>> Call 211 for information and referral for general help
