Police are still looking into how a Salt Lake man obtained the credit cards of Australian pro golfer Robert Allenby, who was injured last month after missing the cut in the Sony Open.
"We’re looking at the initial incident and trying to see where it leads us," said Honolulu Police Department Lt. John McCarthy.
Owen Patrick Harbison, 32, was charged Wednesday afternoon with three counts each of second-degree identity theft and second-degree theft, and one count of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information. His bail was $100,000.
McCarthy said Harbison used three of Allenby’s credit cards and made up to $20,000 in fraudulent charges at various retail and convenience stores around Honolulu and Waikiki. Some of the items have been recovered.
Police initially opened second-degree robbery and fraudulent use of a credit card investigations in Allenby’s case.
The day after Allenby was injured, he took a picture of his bloody face and posted it to Facebook.
Allenby then told multiple media outlets that he had been drugged, kidnapped, robbed of his credit cards, thrown into a car trunk and dumped about 6 miles away in a park the night of Jan. 16 and the morning of Jan. 17. He said he was unconscious in the trunk and only learned of what happened to him from a homeless woman who helped get him away from attackers.
The woman acknowledged helping Allenby but denied telling him that he was thrown to the street from the trunk of a car.
Chris Khamis, a homeless man and former social worker, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he found Allenby passed out that night on the sidewalk across the street from the Amuse Wine Bar on Kapiolani Boulevard where Allenby had dinner. He also said he was present when Allenby injured himself after passing out again and hitting his head on a rock.
At a Jan. 27 news conference, Allenby said he has no memory of what happened to him during 2 1/2 hours after he left the wine bar on Jan. 16.
"From 11:06 to 1:27 a.m. I have no memory," Allenby said. "I can’t tell you how frustrating that is because we all want to know the truth and we all want to get to the bottom of it."
He said he couldn’t remember his phone number after the incident and posted the picture so his son would call him.
He continued: "The police will come out with the right story, so please let them do their job."
McCarthy was asked for the correct story on Wednesday.
"This is part of that correct story," McCarthy said. "The other half we’re just going to have to wait till we complete an investigation."
He added: "There is no kidnapping investigation going on."
McCarthy said Allenby has been consistent in his story with police, but declined to go into details.
He said Harbison is the only suspect in the credit card case and that additional charges are not expected.
Police have video evidence of Harbison using the credit cards at unnamed businesses.
"We’re not speculating how he got it," McCarthy said. "We know that he had it and that he used it."
Harbison, who is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday, has six prior convictions for felony promotion of a dangerous drug, three theft offenses, possession of alcohol while operating a vehicle, and failure to appear in court to answer a citation.
McCarthy suggested citizens protect themselves from similar incidents by maintaining a buddy system.
"It looks like that may have led to some problems" in this case, he said. "Make sure somebody is watching you. Try not to be out by yourself."
