A University of Hawaii at Manoa student was robbed at gunpoint in the Hale Noelani dormitory early Wednesday, UH campus security reported. Police have begun a first-degree robbery investigation.
According to a 1:38 a.m. report from campus security, a man asked to use the resident’s phone and once inside the apartment, brandished a handgun and demanded the wallet from the 20-year-old student. The suspect fled in a light-colored four-door sedan.
The suspect was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds. He was wearing a black hoodie, according to witnesses. His male accomplice, who drove the getaway car, was described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and was holding a knife.
Handgun belonged to fugitive killed by marshal, police say
Police recovered a .38-caliber handgun allegedly belonging to a 46-year-old man fatally shot by a deputy U.S. marshal during his arrest Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Felony Task Force.
Police said Bruce Zalonka, a probation violator, "brandished" a weapon, and the Marshals Service said he appeared to be reaching for something when he was shot. The Marshals Service said the gun was "within arm’s reach" of Zalonka.
Police did not return calls to the Star-Advertiser.
The task force found Zalonka in a van in the parking garage in the Chinatown Gateway Plaza and he allegedly resisted arrest. A Taser was deployed, but seemed to have no effect; he was shot when it appeared he was reaching for something, the Marshals Service said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Hilo woman charged, jailed in lychee theft
Hawaii County police charged a 49-year-old Hilo woman Wednesday with stealing lychee from an orchard in Keaau.
Police said a 60-year-old man reported he encount- ered a woman in his fenced orchard harvesting lychee without his permission.
Officers responded at 8:20 a.m. Wednesday and arrested Andrarene Grammer, and she was taken to the Hilo police cellblock.
Police also recovered 40 pounds of lychee valued at $180.
Grammer was charged Wednesday with second-degree theft, a Class C felony, punishable by five years in prison. Her bail was set at $10,000.
She is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Tips are sought after gunfire damages car
Gunshots damaged a car in the upper Waiakea area of Hilo on Sunday night, according to a Hawaii County police news release issued Wednesday.
Police are asking for the public’s help in obtaining information about the incident.
Patrol officers responded at 10:08 p.m. Sunday to reports by several residents who said they heard multiple gunshots in the area of Haihai and Nou streets. One car was damaged. No injuries were reported.
Detectives are investigating the shooting as a first-degree reckless endangering case.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Detective Todd Pataray at 961-2382 or todd.pataray@hawaiicounty.gov.
