Suspect charged in Nimitz Beach robbery, kidnapping

STAR-ADVERTISER

The suspect arrested for allegedly forcing a father to jump from a moving vehicle with his children at Nimitz Beach on Monday now faces charges of robbery and kidnapping, police said.

Joshua Lopes-Keli, 36, is charged with three counts of kidnapping, robbery in the second degree, and unauthorized control of the moving vehicle. His bail is set at $1 million, and he was also arrested on a no-bail parole violation warrant, the Honolulu Police Department said in a news release.

On Monday evening about 7 p.m., a 30-year-old father rescued his two young daughters as a thief drove away with their pickup truck, forcing the dad to jump out of the moving vehicle with his children. The father was preparing to leave the beach near Kalaeloa Airport when a man approached their truck, asking for a ride.

“When the father declined, the suspect shoved him to the ground, entered the truck, and drove off with the children inside,” police said. The father “was able to get into the back seat, unbuckle his children, and jump out of the moving vehicle with them.”

The father and both children, ages 7 and 3, were injured, and were treated by Honolulu Emergency Medical Services paramedics and taken to a hospital in serious condition.

Just after 9 p.m., about two hours after the carjacking, District 8 Crime Reduction Unit officers arrested a 36-year-old suspect at the Ka Makana Ali‘i mall in Kapolei. The stolen vehicle had been located unoccupied in Kapolei earlier in the night.

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