‘He looked like a monster’: Diamond Head kidnapping caught on video

HONOLULU (Hawaii News Now) — A terrifying kidnapping in broad daylight on the Diamond Head Gold Coast was caught on video.

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Around noon Monday, surveillance video shows a truck parked outside the Kainalu condominium on Coconut Avenue. Police say a man went inside the garage, confronted two women and then chased the younger one.

The 77-year-old condo resident, who asked not to be identified, said the man picked up her 24-year-old friend. Police say the suspect elbowed the 77-year-old in the face.

“He shoved me away from my friend and he picked her up,” she said. “He looked like a monster. He just had so much hatred and craziness in his eyes.”

“I was yelling, ‘Help! Help!’ and she was yelling, too,” she said. “She was saying, ‘You don’t want to do this. Don’t do this.’”

“I’m kind of praying. Praying that people will hear us,” she said. “It was scary and she was giving a fight.”

Witnesses intervene, suspect flees

Neighbor and witness Beverly Louis said she could see the man bear-hugging the woman and dragging her to the back of his truck.

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“I just started screaming, ‘Drop her! Drop her! Drop her!’” Louis said. “She was screaming for her life. She was terrified.”

Neighbor and witness Mike Finkelstein said he yelled at him, “Let her go. I’ve called the police. I’m coming down there after you.”

Several people in the neighborhood converged on the scene, and the 24-year-old broke free.

Witnesses said the suspect got into his truck and sped off backward, going mauka on Coconut Avenue.

About three hours later, police said a suspicious man matching the suspect’s description was seen running naked on 22nd Avenue and Diamond Head Road. He was arrested for kidnapping and second-degree assault.

Meanwhile, the 77-year-old resident says she and her friend are having nightmares as the neighborhood remains on edge.

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