Joshua said he was unable to restrain his tears on the witness stand Tuesday before a grand jury in Circuit Court while recounting how he was held hostage and robbed in his Punchbowl rooming house the week prior.
“I’m emotional,” he said while on his front porch Tuesday night. He was struggling with unexpected emotions, such as the sudden weeping on the witness stand, and was still feeling jittery, especially with one suspect out on bail.
Joshua, 65, who didn’t want to give his last name out of fear of the suspect, was one of three victims, including a 15-year-old boy, held hostage in their home on April 5.
A grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday charging two men with a total of 22 counts in connection with the crime. The charges include multiple felonies for robbery, kidnapping, burglary and firearm offenses.
Stuart Jones, 23, of Nuuanu, was charged with seven counts, including robbery, kidnapping and burglary. He was released after posting $30,000 bond. His attorney, David Hayakawa, had no comment.
Dylan Kailieha, 20, of no local address, was charged with 15 counts that include robbery, burglary, kidnapping and firearm violations. He remained at Oahu Community Correctional Center on Tuesday, unable to post $30,000 bail.
Police said the incident happened about 10:30 p.m. when three men demanded property from the victims. Two of the suspects were arrested, while the identity of the third was unknown.
Joshua said he was smoking a cigarette at the bottom of a driveway when the men approached, asking for the whereabouts of Joshua’s housemate, with one of the men making a reference to drugs. He said the housemate wasn’t home, and two of the men forced him into his room and told him to lie face down on his bed. The men, one armed with a small knife and the other with a pistol, kicked in other doors of the house and searched through the residents’ belongings.
Seven people live in the three-story rooming house on the 1900 block of Puowaina Drive near Punchbowl. The men forced Joshua and another resident into the first floor of the house and kicked in the door to the room where a 15-year-old boy lives with his mother. The boy was home alone at the time, and the men told the boy and the two men to lie face down on the bed while the suspects took turns guarding the hostages with the knife or the gun, allowing the others to search the house for valuables, Joshua said.
The robbers took their phones so they couldn’t call for help, but another tenant who lives on the top floor heard the shouting and called police. Officers entered the first floor and startled Jones, who was holding two bags but dropped them upon seeing the officers, according to court documents filed in District Court.
One victim told police there was another man with a pistol in an adjacent bedroom and officers found Kailieha inside.
Joshua said he kept his face down on the bed out of fear of being killed and when an officer walked into the room, he asked in disbelief: “Are you a real cop?”