Police are seeking leads on two men who allegedly stole a pair of flags from the entrance to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and whose images were captured on surveillance video.
Police are seeking leads on two men who allegedly stole a pair of flags from the entrance to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and whose images were captured on surveillance video.
According to police, the hotel on Banyan Drive reported the theft of the flags, a U.S. flag and a Hawaii state flag, on Aug. 2.
“It happened early in the morning, and the flags are valued at $200 each,” Caroline Witherspoon, a spokeswoman for Castle Resorts, the Hilo Hawaiian’s parent corporation, said Tuesday. “It was two mobile flagpoles that (the suspects) moved, because they’re mobile. (Hotel personnel) found the poles without the flags.”
Hawaii Police Department spokesman Alan Richmond said police received surveillance video but no physical description of the suspects.
“They were apparently strolling around in there, and somebody saw them take the flags,” Richmond said. “There were two young women who were with them.”
Surveillance images show a man wearing a gray T-shirt, whom police say took the U.S. flag, and a second man clad in a black T-shirt and black ball cap, who allegedly stole the Hawaii state flag.
Richmond said images of the women weren’t released since they aren’t considered suspects.
The flags have since been replaced in the hotel lobby. Since the value of the stolen flags is less than $750, the investigation is for third-degree theft, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Anyone with information about the identity of the suspects is asked to call the police department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Lt. Robert Almeida of Hilo Patrol Division at 961-2213.
Those who prefer anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.