Fast food workers held up by armed robbers in Kapahulu

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu police are searching for three masked men who they said entered Popeyes Kapahulu last Wednesday around 10:30 p.m. Surveillance video shows one suspect armed with a silver revolver and the other with a black handgun.

“It’s a pretty scary thing especially when you have guns involved,” said Eric Phillips, Island Paddler owner. “They said that somebody forced their way in there through the back door when someone was just emptying the trash so sounds like it happened pretty fast.”

Police said the men demanded items from workers and got away in a black sedan. No arrests have been made at this time.

Neighboring businesses said incidents like this are concerning to see in their tight-knit Kapahulu community.

“These local businesses are crucial and we’re some of the last ones here and I know Popeyes is a big chain, but we consider them part of the neighborhood and there are workers there that are part of our ohana,” Phillips said.

Popeyes isn’t the only business hit by crime recently in the area.

“We’re constantly recording everything. It’s something I put in after my windows were broken. There was a string of vandalism and broken windows up and down this whole street including even the church,” said Phillips.

The Retail Merchants of Hawaii heard from many businesses who said run-ins with violent criminals are a reoccurrence.

“Sometimes these people have weapons on them and it could be a box cutter, it could be a syringe with liquid that we don’t know what it is,” said Tina Yamaki, Retail Merchants of Hawaii President. “We always tell our employees, it’s best to stay on the side of caution.”

Tips from police include making sure security camera lighting is clear and lenses are clean to capture images of suspects.

Kapahulu businesses said they’ll continue to look out for one another and the rest of the community should too.

“We all know who everybody is and let’s work together and come together and look out and report anything suspicious especially armed robbers, that’s pretty heavy,” Phillips said.