‘Unbelievable’: Police search for suspect who attacked elderly man in his own garden
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - An elderly man is recovering from a concussion after he was attacked and robbed over the weekend outside of his Kalihi home.
It happened at around 5 p.m. in Palama.
Family says the 77-year-old victim was in a garden outside of their home when he was attacked and robbed of his wallet by a stranger.
A surveillance camera captured a man riding a moped, stopping in the road and watching the victim. He then tries to rob him then punches the man to the ground and continues to assault him.
The victim is Fritz Medalla’s father-in-law.
“In broad daylight, that was really shocking,” Medalla said.
He said the retired grandfather wants his attacker put behind bars.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Medalla. “I mean, to hurt someone of that age and are so vulnerable.”
Police are looking for a man in his 20s with a brown complexion, about 5-foot-10 with a slim build.
He was wearing a black hat, multi-colored shirt and dark pants.
“We’ve seen many cases like this where the community has stepped up,” said Sgt. Chris Kim, of Honolulu Crimestoppers. “It’s already a bad situation that somebody was robbed. But I think it makes it more heartbreaking, the fact that it was a senior citizen minding his own business.”
Medalla grew up in the area.
He’s hoping more police presence and community involvement will make it safe for his children to play outside. “Back to the old neighborhood watch programs that could be set up in our communities amongst the residents of the area,” said Medalla.
“We really got to be vigilant about providing safety measures for our own family, within the family or even within the community.”
State Rep. John Mizuno said community vigilance can go a long way.
“We’ve had a number of neighborhood watch patrols that were quite successful over time. But the key is consistency and vigilance,” Mizuno said.
“Once those groups kind of broke up ... the criminal element would come back into the area.”
If you have any information about the incident, call Honolulu Crimestoppers at 808-955-8300.
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