Man assaulted in Puna robbery

By JOHN BURNETT

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Police have charged a Puna man and woman with robbery after they allegedly tried to shake down another man for marijuana.

A 32-year-old Pahoa man told officers that he was standing outside Boogie Woogie Pizza in Pahoa on Monday afternoon when a woman approached him and asked him for marijuana. When the man said he didn’t have any, the woman allegedly hit him in the back of the head several times with her fist and then removed cash from the victim’s pants pocket.

The victim told police that he dropped his skateboard during the attack.

A man then reportedly joined in the attack, hitting the victim in the head — first with his fist and later with the victim’s skateboard — and knocked him unconscious.

The man was taken to Hilo Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries.

“He did suffer some lacerations, injuries that required that he be admitted to the hospital,” Lt. Greg Esteban of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Tuesday. Esteban said the victim remained in the hospital overnight and was released on Tuesday.

A short time after the incident, police arrested 32-year-old Steven Stoesser, 35-year-old Lisa Yurkovic and 19-year-old Gina Sumaoang, all of Pahoa. According to a police log, the arrest took place at the Pahoa 7-Eleven store.

Sumaong was released without charges Tuesday night.

Stoesser was charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree assault. His bail was set at $50,000.

Yurkovic was charged with first-degree robbery. Her bail was set at $5,000.

Stoesser and Yurkovic were held at the Hilo police cellblock until their initial court appearances Tuesday afternoon.

According to court records, Stoesser pleaded guilty in July to second-degree theft, a felony charge, and was sentenced in August to five years probation, which means that he was still on probation when the alleged incident occurred.

Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.