Many years ago when daughter Jan was going to school at Punahou, I dropped her off and headed to work at downtown AMFAC. As I stopped at the light on Punahou Street, I saw two guys mugging a woman and trying to steal her handbag. A nearby Wackenhut guard intervened And one of the muggers took off at 7:30 a.m. The guard held onto the other mugger and I ent to a nearby apartment building and tried to get a resident to call the cops. Few people would answer their door but one finally did.
Before the cops arrived, the guard asked me to hold the one mugger as he was getting tired. So I did and the mugger cursed me and called me an old f—t. I banged his head on the trunk of a nearby parked car until he stopped complaining. A man in a hat and umbrella walked by and reached into his briefcase saying, “I am going to kill you.” I told him things were under control and the cops would be here soon and he walked away. (I wondered what was in his briefcase and whether it was powerful enough to penetrate both the mugger and me!!)
Then a multitude of cops (maybe 5 or 6) arrived just as the second mugger returned and attacked the guard. The cops milled around mumbling “overtime” and finally I had to ask them to take the guy I was holding so I could help the guard who was rolling around into traffic on the street with the second mugger after first explain that I was a good guy and the mugger was a bad guy. One cop helped me handcuff and toss the mugger into the back of a patrol car and I then went to help the guard. Another cop helped put the cuffs on the second mugger and we put that one in the back of a patrol car as well. The muggee lady was still around so the cops started asking her what had happened. Then the fun began.
“How old are you? Where do you live? What is your name and occupation?” And on and on. I was so angry at the cops I left my business card and told them to contact me at work, then I drove to work.
They did call me later and a few weeks later a prosecutor called to tell me to be at the court the next morning to testify. The guard had gone to the mainland and the muggee refused to testify for fear this might be a drug gang matter. Prosecutor told me he had before and after photos so I could recognize the culprits so I agreed to testify.
I was called early the next morning and told the culprits copped a plea so I need not testify.
The Mayor sent me a “Good Guy” medal which I immediately tossed in the garbage.
The only good thing that came out of all this is that I think I was put on a list of people the cops are to leave alone. After a brake failure on my mother-in-law’s car some months later and a minor bang into a car, a cop told me he did not know why he was told not to arrest me for leaving the scene of an accident and that I must “know someone.” I showed him the extent of the damage and it was below the threshold of reporting and the other driver agreed. The cop became friendly and left, still wondering why he was not told to cuff me and bring me in!
