It didn’t take long to get a prime suspect.
Our initial reaction to the photo was seconded independently by three other people who contacted me this morning about it.
The suspect is a kid who who lives just a few hundred yards from here. We’ve watched him grow up. A decade ago, he was maybe 8 or 9 years old, running around with other boys trying to catch the feral roosters. We insisted that he come and ask our permission before trying chasing roosters anywhere on our property. He did. He’s now probably a senior at Kahuku.
We’ve gotten to know his family over the years, his grandfather, mom, and others. The family has been in Kaaawa a lot longer than we have. I volunteered to take graduation photos for one of the girls, and did party photos for a 1st birthday luau, as well as for the party celebrating his grandfather’s retirement a few years ago.
So I walked around the corner and down the next block and spoke to his mom.
She said he was in school yesterday morning. Then I showed her the picture, one of the full scene showing him standing in our kitchen, and the one posted here this morning which enlarged his image.
“That looks like my son,” she said after staring at a print of the photo for several long, long seconds.
So there we are. She’s trying to get in touch with him now, and is seriously interested in the other person seeing leaving the area with him at the time of the break-in.
It would be nice to get our “stuff” back, but I would guess that 24 hours is a very long time in that world, and recovery is probably not in the cards.
I asked his mom what she thought I should do at this point.
She replied without hesitation.
“Call the cops. You’ve been good to us. He’s on his own on this.”
Another of our neighbors agreed wholeheartedly: “Taking from your own neighborhood. That’s the worst.”
But I’m delaying that call for a couple of hours. Maybe mom can talk some sense into the kid. A long shot, perhaps, but just maybe I’ll be surprised.
Then it’s 911 again to report this new evidence.
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Great, by all means, don’t call the cops. After all, the poor little precious darling is probably just “acting out.”
Let the next victim worry about it. And there will be a next victim — you’re helping to ensure that.
It’s an indictment on all of us, in a sense, when the mom says to call the cops.
Whatever happened to parental responsibility? To communal responsibility?
Instead, we leave it to institutions to deal with it with mixed results.
Auwe.
Two words:
For Shame
Charles, you make an unfortunately very pertinent observation. Nevertheless, someone (whether ‘minor’ or not) violating another’s privacy (neighbor, no less) needs a realistic wake-up call to lawfulness and the lack thereof. Until our community has definitively shared ethics (ain’t gonna happen) we’d best go with the rule of law.
Alas — if it is this particular kid — he seems to have been pretty “professional” about his burgling. Which means a pattern of behavior. Which means Mom yelling at him isn’t going to help. Which means, yes, call 911. It’s not about the kid, it’s about the community.
Although it may be difficult to stomach, I would take seriously the suggestion from the parents to involve the police. Their request makes me think they have realized for some time that he’s been on a bad track. If they have not been able to get a handle on things up until now then it’s time for intervention via the authorities. I must be honest… I’d like to see him (and his robber-buddy) off the streets.
If the “prime suspect” was 8 or 9 years old a decade ago, he’s an adult now, and “on his own” indeed. Too late for parental or even community shaming, scolding or punishment.
We’ve been the victims of three burglaries at our house over the years, and were reasonably sure the perps were youths: they always took the Crown Royal and left the Glenfiddich – I ask you! All of the burglaries remain unsolved although each time the responding HPD officers commented that the perps were probably experienced burglars in knowing how and where to look for valuables.
Be sure to check with banks, credit cards, etc. about new account numbers & you may want to put fraud alerts on at the credit report companies.
” he seems to have been pretty “professional” about his burgling. ”
he watches tv and plays alotta Xbox!
Good reporting, wild story, Ian!
speaking as a parent…police is the best option. if kid is determined to do wrong, they will. this guy is no longer a kid. the best of parents cannot watch a kid 24/7. parents work. you send your kid to school and trust them to stay there, or even call the school to make sure they did go.
but if they want to do wrong they will.
i suspected my kid had skipped classes at school. i called the counselor and asked for his attendance record, it showed he had skipped his computer class a few times. i asked the counselor why no one at school had picked up on it. the counselor stated that unless a student misses 15 classes, it won’t come to her attention. the state paid millions for a compter system to track attendance. teachers take attendance at the beginning of every class. however, if no one is looking at the data, what is the point…kid wants to do wrong, they will find a way
What is really scary is that, if this teenager goes to jail and comes back—or if he doesn’t go to jail, depending on how you handle it—he could turn into a furious person and come back to harrass you and Meda.
He might not do that, but it’s a risk. He may also come back and be genuinely sorry—in a best case scenario.
But the fact that he a.) broke into a neighbor’s house, b.) actually attempted to write checks with your blank checks, c.) involved friends, d.) didn’t stop to think that he would ever get caught or that his mother would be notified…it just goes to show how truly stupid and careless he has grown up to be.
I feel for his family, and I agree—if his mother recommended that you “call the cops,” then there is something more to their family situation than you realize.
It’s easy for me to say this now, but if my little girl grows up to do something that brainless, I would call the cops on her myself.