Recently unsealed search warrants that were filed in the case against Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control owner Michael J. Miske yielded another story, which appears today at Civil Beat, “The Miske Files: A Robbery Gone Bad In Kailua Ends In A Death.”

It is based on the description of a 2017 robbery of the Aloha Tattoo Company in Kailua that was buried among the dozens of search warrants and associated document unsealed by the court. Two men entered the store in the attempted robbery, started when one of them assaulted the store owner. It ended quickly when the owner, a former Marine, stabbed the young man who was attacking him. The robber-turned-victim was able to leave the store, but was found dead in their getaway car when police arrived a few minutes later.

What the records make public for the first time is that the stabbing victim became involved in order to pay off a drug debt, and others involved in the robbery were part of the racketeering and drug trafficking network the prosecutors allege was under Miske’s control. The second man who entered the store along with the victim was Jacob “Jake” Smith, who pleaded guilty in November 2020. Smith had served as an “enforcer” who was on-call when Miske wanted someone roughed up for any reason, and admitted that he had been part of Miske’s criminal organization and it’s extensive web of drug distribution. Also involved in the robbery was Miske’s brother, John Stancil, who was waiting outside in the getaway car, according to the documents. A fourth person in the car was not identified.

Apparently police quickly learned of the Miske organization’s involvement, but this was not made public at the time.

After being threatened for failing to repay a drug debt for methamphetamine “fronted” by a dealer with a reputation for violence and the martial arts skills to back it up, 24-year old Dayson “Dace” Kaae agreed to rob an illegal game room near the Don Quijote store on Kaheka Street, not far from Ala Moana Center.

On Oct. 15, 2017, Kaae entered the game room and pulled out a handgun, according to a news broadcast at the time.

It didn’t go well. Kaae lost his gun when tackled by one of the game room guards, and suffered head injuries in the scuffle that followed. He was taken to a hospital, and then arrested for terroristic threatening and a firearms violation. He was later released after witnesses refused to cooperate with prosecutors.

Five weeks later, Kaae attempted a second robbery, this time of a Kailua tattoo shop. Kaae entered the store with a second man, and punched and kicked the store owner, who then pulled a small knife and stabbed Kaae several times. The two men fled to a waiting car with two others inside, but police responding to the scene found Kaae dead in the getaway car, which had been abandoned a block away.

Use the link above to read the whole story.