Police Seek Two Suspects in Kailua-Kona Convenience Store Theft

A shirtless man walked into a convenience store on the 75-5600 block of Kuakini Highway in Kailua-Kona at 4:29 p.m. on February 24, removed four heavy-duty titanium USB cables and a pair of sunglasses, and left without paying. Surveillance cameras captured the whole thing. What they missed entirely was the second suspect standing nearby.

The Hawai'i Police Department released the footage on April 6 and is asking the public to help identify both men. The first suspect is described as a Caucasian man in his 20s, shirtless, wearing black pants. His companion, described as a local man in his 20s wearing a black sweater and black pants, was present in the store during the theft but did not appear on any surveillance footage.

The stolen items are not typical convenience store merchandise. The titanium USB cables are marketed as premium accessories with ballistic braided nylon construction, rated at 30 times the durability of standard cables. That kind of product carries significantly higher resale value than generic shelf items, making it a deliberate target rather than an impulsive grab. Anyone who was offered or purchased the cables or sunglasses in the weeks following February 24 is encouraged to contact police.

Kona Patrol Officer Michael Rabara is the direct contact for tips. He can be reached at (808) 326-4646, Ext. 253, or by email at michael.rabara@hawaiipolice.gov.

The store sits along one of the busiest commercial stretches in West Hawaii, near Ali'i Drive and the King Kamehameha Marriott Hotel. The location is no outlier for Kona retail crime. Since 2021, police have issued multiple surveillance-based public appeals for similar incidents: a suspected shoplifter at an Ali'i Drive business in late 2024, two suspects sought in a Kona retail store theft in October 2025, and two women who stole a shopper's backpack from a Kona discount department store in 2021.

Those incidents reflect a countywide pattern that the numbers are now making impossible to ignore. According to the Hawaii Crime Dashboard, launched in December 2025 by the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, the Big Island recorded 11,513 total offenses in 2024, up from 10,872 the year before. That puts Hawaii County's crime rate at 5,422.1 offenses per 100,000 residents, a 4.3% increase over 2023 and well above the statewide rate of 4,358.5 per 100,000. While Hawaii's overall crime rate fell 3.4% in 2024, the Big Island moved in the opposite direction. Property crimes, including larceny-theft, account for the large majority of reported offenses statewide, and the Kuakini Highway theft is a textbook example of why that category keeps climbing on this island.