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Lihu‘e merchants want their street back
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| Salvation Army Thrift Store employee Rosica Kaneko takes in some of the donations from the receiving area Monday morning on Kress Street. Note the vandalized sign in the foreground. Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island |
1 store burglarized 3 times in 2 months
By Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — Improved security measures are proving effective at preventing thefts, but burglars are continuing to break into Kaua‘i businesses, often destroying personal property in the process, local store owners said.
Thieves are apparently going after everything from jewels to second-hand goods, averaging almost one break-in a day on the island.
Capt. Mitham Clement of the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Lihu‘e said Monday that several merchants on Kress Street reported witnessing people rummaging through donations made after the thrift store’s normal receiving hours. He noted that the signs posted to steer people against this behavior have been defaced.
One of those concerned about people rifling through the donations left outside the thrift store is Bea Raco of Lee’s Furniture, which has been broken into three times in two months.
“Sure, people need a place to get out of the cold, especially in November and December, but when they break into my store, that’s too much,” Raco said.
Lee’s Furniture was broken into once in November and twice in December.
In the first burglaries, Raco said she lost some bags, and in the ensuing break-ins, burglars were after the contents of the safe but were unable to open it.
Just down the street, Robert’s Jewelry had an attempted break-in about three weeks ago. This was the same time frame as when nearby Rosie’s Pawn Shop on Rice Street was broken into.
“People have tried picking at the locks on the warehouse, but that won’t do them any good because we don’t have anything of value in the warehouse,” Milton Ozaki of Robert’s said. “This time, they tried coming into the store and screwed up my phone system.”
Ozaki said when the police arrived to investigate, they got some really good fingerprints from the attempt at trying to disarm the security system and he was encouraged to find out that the prints were familiar to the police.
Rosie’s Pawn Shop, located next to Mama Lucy’s restaurant, was broken into but burglars were unable to get through the safe.
“They broke through one layer, but that was about all they could do,” said Joe Tumalip, proprietor of Designed by Joseph, a store neighboring the pawn shop. “Eventually, they tried breaking into my shop, but I have someone sleeping here and when they tried to force the door it woke him up.”
That drove the would-be burglars away empty-handed.
That incident has forced Tumalip to start spending nights at the store where he joins his sleep-in security.
“After that, I sleep on the outside,” Tumalip said. “If they break into my shop, this is everything I have.”
In these attempted break-ins, nothing was taken due to security measures the shopkeepers had taken for their respective properties.
“When burglars broke into my shop, they shut off the electricity,” Raco said. “They thought our security system was electrically operated, but we had a battery backup so the video cameras still operated.”
Raco said the area is a target for would-be thieves because of the old-style buildings and partly because people are always rummaging through the Salvation Army contributions.
The owner of Lee’s Furniture said if people in need steal from the Salvation Army, it’s still wrong but less painful to see than watching people who drive up with new, expensive trucks going through to pick what they want and throw the rest around.
Clement said he has remedied that situation somewhat by coming in to move the contributions inside after his Sunday services.
“The message I want to send out is that people give good things with goodness in their heart,” Clement said. “But when others come and rummage through and toss things about, it becomes trash. After people get through, it doesn’t even look like a street with everything tossed about.”
He encouraged contributors to follow the regular receiving hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. The store is closed on holidays.
“We want the place to look like a street and I’m working on Sundays and holidays to try and keep it nice,” Clement said.
Raco said she’s been in business for 28 years and this is the worst that she’s experienced.
“It’s scary,” she said.
Statistics from the Kaua‘i Police Department show that in the period from March 12, 2008, to April 12, 2008, there were 29 reported burglaries. In the same period for 2009, there were 22 reported burglaries.
To help curtail crime, the Kapa‘a Business Association is announcing the start of a new anti-crime strategy with a goal to support Kapa‘a businesses, police and area residents for 2009.
The Business Watch program, aimed at establishing links between businesses, residents and law enforcement, will be presented at a program sponsored by the KBA from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kapa‘a Library.
Business Watch operates under two principles: when neighbors get to know and watch out for each other, they keep an eye on each other’s property as thought it was their own; and secondly, Business Watch helps to create an identity within the neighborhood which leads to a sense of pride and empowerment.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
Thieves are apparently going after everything from jewels to second-hand goods, averaging almost one break-in a day on the island.
Capt. Mitham Clement of the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Lihu‘e said Monday that several merchants on Kress Street reported witnessing people rummaging through donations made after the thrift store’s normal receiving hours. He noted that the signs posted to steer people against this behavior have been defaced.
One of those concerned about people rifling through the donations left outside the thrift store is Bea Raco of Lee’s Furniture, which has been broken into three times in two months.
“Sure, people need a place to get out of the cold, especially in November and December, but when they break into my store, that’s too much,” Raco said.
Lee’s Furniture was broken into once in November and twice in December.
In the first burglaries, Raco said she lost some bags, and in the ensuing break-ins, burglars were after the contents of the safe but were unable to open it.
Just down the street, Robert’s Jewelry had an attempted break-in about three weeks ago. This was the same time frame as when nearby Rosie’s Pawn Shop on Rice Street was broken into.
“People have tried picking at the locks on the warehouse, but that won’t do them any good because we don’t have anything of value in the warehouse,” Milton Ozaki of Robert’s said. “This time, they tried coming into the store and screwed up my phone system.”
Ozaki said when the police arrived to investigate, they got some really good fingerprints from the attempt at trying to disarm the security system and he was encouraged to find out that the prints were familiar to the police.
Rosie’s Pawn Shop, located next to Mama Lucy’s restaurant, was broken into but burglars were unable to get through the safe.
“They broke through one layer, but that was about all they could do,” said Joe Tumalip, proprietor of Designed by Joseph, a store neighboring the pawn shop. “Eventually, they tried breaking into my shop, but I have someone sleeping here and when they tried to force the door it woke him up.”
That drove the would-be burglars away empty-handed.
That incident has forced Tumalip to start spending nights at the store where he joins his sleep-in security.
“After that, I sleep on the outside,” Tumalip said. “If they break into my shop, this is everything I have.”
In these attempted break-ins, nothing was taken due to security measures the shopkeepers had taken for their respective properties.
“When burglars broke into my shop, they shut off the electricity,” Raco said. “They thought our security system was electrically operated, but we had a battery backup so the video cameras still operated.”
Raco said the area is a target for would-be thieves because of the old-style buildings and partly because people are always rummaging through the Salvation Army contributions.
The owner of Lee’s Furniture said if people in need steal from the Salvation Army, it’s still wrong but less painful to see than watching people who drive up with new, expensive trucks going through to pick what they want and throw the rest around.
Clement said he has remedied that situation somewhat by coming in to move the contributions inside after his Sunday services.
“The message I want to send out is that people give good things with goodness in their heart,” Clement said. “But when others come and rummage through and toss things about, it becomes trash. After people get through, it doesn’t even look like a street with everything tossed about.”
He encouraged contributors to follow the regular receiving hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. The store is closed on holidays.
“We want the place to look like a street and I’m working on Sundays and holidays to try and keep it nice,” Clement said.
Raco said she’s been in business for 28 years and this is the worst that she’s experienced.
“It’s scary,” she said.
Statistics from the Kaua‘i Police Department show that in the period from March 12, 2008, to April 12, 2008, there were 29 reported burglaries. In the same period for 2009, there were 22 reported burglaries.
To help curtail crime, the Kapa‘a Business Association is announcing the start of a new anti-crime strategy with a goal to support Kapa‘a businesses, police and area residents for 2009.
The Business Watch program, aimed at establishing links between businesses, residents and law enforcement, will be presented at a program sponsored by the KBA from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kapa‘a Library.
Business Watch operates under two principles: when neighbors get to know and watch out for each other, they keep an eye on each other’s property as thought it was their own; and secondly, Business Watch helps to create an identity within the neighborhood which leads to a sense of pride and empowerment.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
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Aubrey wrote on Apr 14, 2009 3:31 AM: