Bail set at $500,000 in Honolulu condo kidnapping attempt

HONOLULU: Police charged 23-year-old Diesel Makanikaiaulu Kawelo with kidnapping Wednesday after an attempted abduction at the Kainalu condominiums. His bail was set at $500,000. The incident occurred Monday afternoon, when authorities responded to a reported kidnapping at the complex.

Surveillance footage from the area showed a truck parked outside the complex. A man then entered the garage, where he confronted two women and chased one of them. Police said the suspect elbowed a 77-year-old resident in the face during the encounter.

The 77-year-old resident, who asked not to be identified, said the man lifted her 24-year-old friend off the ground. "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." The resident added, "I was yelling, 'Help! Help!' and she was yelling, too. She was saying, 'You don't want to do this. Don't do this.'"

Beverly Louis, a neighbor who witnessed the scene, said she saw the man bear-hugging the woman and pulling her toward the back of his truck. "I just started screaming, 'Drop her! Drop her! Drop her!" Louis said. "She was screaming for her life. She was terrified." Mike Finkelstein, another neighbor, said he also yelled at the man: "Let her go. I've called the police. I'm coming down there after you."

Several neighbors intervened after seeing and hearing the commotion, and the 24-year-old woman broke free. Witnesses said the suspect drove away in his truck. Police arrested him a few hours later after he was spotted running naked in a nearby neighborhood.

The 77-year-old resident thanked fellow residents for their help but said she and her friend were still having nightmares and that the neighborhood remained on edge. Kawelo was charged Wednesday and his bail was set at $500,000.

Police are scheduled to continue processing the case following the Wednesday arrest.