Three men are facing federal charges after they allegedly robbed an illegal gambling operation on Kawaiahao Street at gunpoint early Thursday morning.
Rogelio Tadeo-Burrows, 24; B.J. Bakol, 19; and Joseph Konno III, 19, are charged by federal criminal complaint with Hobbs Act robbery and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The Hobbs Act prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce “in any way or degree,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara Eucker and Sara D. Ayabe are prosecuting the case.
Tadeo-Burrows made his initial appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield. He is scheduled for a detention hearing Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Mansfield’s court.
Tadeo-Burrows attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Maximilian J. Mizono; Bakol’s attorney, Catherine P. Gutierrez; and Konno’s attorney, Audrey L.E. Stanley, did not immediately reply to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment.
There have been 156 arrests by Honolulu Police Department officers for game room gambling offenses so far this year, including 83 for operating, promoting or assisting gambling and 72 gambling equipment violations, according to HPD’s Data Dashboard.
In 2023, HPD officers made 200 gambling arrests, 108 for operating, promoting or assisting gambling and 92 for gambling equipment violations.
HPD made no arrests for gambling offenses on Thursday.
To report suspicious or illegal gambling activity, police urge the public to call 808-723-3933 or report online at honolulupd.org.
Tadeo-Burrows posted $100,000 bail Aug. 9 and was awaiting trial in connection with charges stemming from a November incident, according to state court records.
In that state case, Tadeo-Burrows was charged with place to keep pistol or revolver, ownership of an automatic firearm with detachable ammunition magazines, and criminal trespassing.
Illegal game rooms in Hawaii “typically employ security staff and cashiers,” according to an affidavit authored by a Honolulu Police Department detective working as a task force officer for Homeland Security Investigations.
The security staff is responsible for monitoring the entry and exit of patrons, often through the use of video surveillance systems. The cashiers are responsible for providing cash payouts to patrons who win on their wagers.
Security staff and cashiers work in scheduled shifts.
“Given the illegal nature of the businesses, game rooms are often targeted for robberies in part because of the belief that the security staff, cashiers, and patrons will be less likely to call or cooperate with the police,” the HPD detective wrote.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday morning, Honolulu police responded Thursday to a call of a gunpoint robbery in the two-story commercial building at 949 Kawaiahao St., “known to patrons as the ‘944 game room.’”
The operation was equipped with a closed-circuit television video surveillance system with “numerous cameras mounted at various locations within the interior and exterior of the game room.”
The footage was stored on a Network Video Recorder system within the game room.
According to surveillance footage, HPD observations, and interviews done by HPD with witnesses, Tadeo-Burrows and Bakol allegedly entered the game room, pointing firearms at people working there.
They allegedly followed an employee around the game room while the employee collected cash from the gaming devices as demanded by Tadeo-Burrows and Bakol.
Several people tried to hide in a corner of the game room while the pair pointed guns at the patrons and asked for their cash. Konno allegedly walked in and “appeared to obtain an item from Bakol.”
A witness later allegedly identified Konno as one of the people “who brandished a firearm during the robbery.” HPD officers arriving at the scene found Konno “wearing a face mask and a hoodie, and attempting to exit” the establishment.
Konno was detained by police officers while other officers searched the game room.
Game room customers told responding police officers that Tadeo-Burrows and Bakol were hiding in the bathroom. HPD officers entered the bathroom and detained the men.
From a trash can in the bathroom, HPD recovered a pistol with a tan grip and a loaded magazine, bearing no serial number; a black Taurus G2C 9mm pistol containing a loaded magazine and one round of ammunition in the chamber; a large amount of U.S. currency in mixed denominations; and two balaclavas or ski masks.
HPD officers arrested the trio at the scene on suspicion of first-degree robbery. HPD seized an undisclosed number of “Fish Hunter” and “Pot-o-Gold” digital gambling machines from the operation.
The machines have bill slots that allow people to “insert cash into the machines in order to play.”
