26-02-2025
Oahu shops under siege: Smash-and-grabs ongoing
WAHIAWA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Smash-and-grab burglaries continue to plague local businesses.
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One owner knows the impact all too well after his snack shops were hit four times since 2021 and he is not the only one calling for tougher penalties on offenders.
The owner of Rajah Dat Snack Shop in Wahiawa told KHON2 that these types of burglaries do not just mean they need a new window pane.
Rise of security gates: Honolulu's new norm?
'Contacting the insurance company, getting the glass shops out here to do estimates. At the end of the day, it's, the shop has to be closed,' Rivera said, 'I'm looking at about $6,000 to $7,000 in repairs.'
This latest burglary on Sunday, Feb. 23 is just the latest for Rivera. His location in in 2021 and 2022 and his .
Both he and the Retail Merchants of Hawaii said filing police reports is crucial.
'And it's sad because it seems to be increasing as time goes by,' Retail Merchants of Hawaii president Tina Yamaki said. 'You have to make a police report. That should be the first thing that you do. Get it on record. Then they can start looking for them. If you don't make a police report, the theft never happened then.'
The shop will be closed for the near future as Rivera works out the repairs. Both he and the Retail Merchants said consequences need to be tougher on the people who commit the crimes on small local businesses.
'Because what we're finding out right now is there are no consequences for these people really. I mean, they're so minor that they keep doing it over and over again because they know they can get away with it and nothing's going to happen to them,' Yamaki said.
Metal security gates were installed in the Waipahu shopping center where Rivera's store and five other businesses were broken into in one night in 2023 and he hopes similar alterations are made in Wahiawa.
'I'm going to talk to the property management to see what they can do for us because I'm not the only one that got broken into in the past few months. But in Waipahu, it really has helped,' he said.
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'We do need stronger laws with regards to punishment like mandatory jail time or mandatory fines because what we're finding out right now is there are no consequences for these people really,' Yamaki said.
Honolulu police said investigators were following up on leads in the Wahiawa case on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
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