An attempted kidnapping in broad daylight sent residents of Honolulu’s Diamond Head neighborhood into action after a woman was grabbed, lifted off the ground and carried toward a truck. The suspect apparently expected an easy escape. Instead, nearby residents made enough noise to disrupt the attack and help the woman get free.
The incident happened shortly after 10 a.m. on Oct. 26 in a parking garage, according to KITV. A 24-year-old woman and a 77-year-old woman were walking when a large man followed them from behind. After speaking to the women, the man tried to grab the younger woman. She dodged him and attempted to run away.
That escape did not last. The man caught up with her, picked her up and carried her toward his vehicle while she kicked and screamed. This was not some shadowy nighttime incident hidden from view. It happened in daylight, in a residential setting, with people nearby. Apparently, daylight was not enough to deter him, but the neighbors were.
The older woman began yelling for help and tried to persuade the man to stop. “I was yelling, ‘Help! Help!’ and she was yelling, too. She was saying, ‘You don’t want to do this. Don’t do this,’” the older woman said, according to the Daily Mail.
She described the man in stark terms. “He looked like a monster. He just had so much hatred and craziness in his eyes,” she said.
Residents of the condominium complex heard the commotion and joined in. Mike Finkelstein said, “I yelled at him, ‘Let her go. I’ve called the police. I’m coming down there after you.’”
Beverly Louis said she saw “a man bear hugging a woman and dragging her to the back of his truck.” She added, “And I heard neighbors screaming, so I just started screaming, ‘Drop her! Drop her! Drop her!’ And she was screaming for her life. She was terrified.”
The shouting appears to have helped give the woman a chance to escape. The man drove away, but a witness took a photograph of his truck and provided it to police. The suspect’s getaway did not last long, and he made the situation even more bizarre by allegedly running naked down a street when officers arrested him about three hours after the incident.
The suspect was identified as 23-year-old Diesel Kawelo. A Honolulu prosecutor said Kawelo was indicted for kidnapping and harassment, according to KHON-TV. Kidnapping is a class A felony, while harassment is a petty misdemeanor. A conviction could carry up to 20 years in prison.
Whatever the suspect thought he was going to accomplish, the residents’ response stopped the situation from becoming even worse. The older woman raised the alarm, witnesses documented the vehicle and neighbors refused to stand by while a woman was carried away. Sometimes the most effective response is not complicated. It is making noise, calling for help and refusing to let a criminal operate without resistance.
