A $15,000 reward helped clear 16 theft-related crimes, mostly on the Westside, with the arrest of a Kekaha woman Thursday.
Annette Manners, 29, of Kekaha, was arrested for 12 counts of first-degree burglary, one count of third-degree theft, one count of fourth-degree theft, and two counts of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle on Feb. 5.
One of those counts is related to at least one burglary at Brad Bennett’s Kukui‘ula home on Lawa‘i Road.
Bennett initially offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a first break-in, then upped it to $15,000 after the home was hit a second time within 100 days.
Kaua‘i Police Department Det. Kaleo Perez, investigating the case, said that the reward helped lead to the arrest of Manners.
As for the reward, “I welcome that,” Perez said. “It helps for people to come forward. It helped here.”
The first time the Bennett home was burglarized, his son and grandson and daughter in law were all in the house.
Bennett is a Colorado developer who owns two homes on Kaua‘i and is building two more here.
He offered the reward, he said last month, because he believed the rash of burglaries in Po‘ipu would begin affecting property values and the tourism industry as long as the individuals responsible for the crimes went free.
But the incidents for which Manners was arrested, besides the Bennett case, mostly occurred on the Westside, said Perez.
And the first burglary at the Bennett home remains unsolved, he added.
During the first of the two burglaries, thieves took off with between $6,000 and $7,000 worth of cash and personal belongings including laptop computers, cameras and other easy-to-carry items, Bennett said.
The thieves appear to intentionally waited until visitors were in the homes before entering, knowing that if the visitors are there so are their wallets, purses and other valuable belongings, he surmises.
That feeling was confirmed by Perez, who made one burglary arrest for multiple burglaries in the Po‘ipu Beach area (on Jan. 6, Preston Cup Choy, 23, of Koloa, was arrested for seven counts of first-degree burglary), but Perez had not been able to connect that suspect with anything taken from Bennett’s home.
Cupchoy was arrested by Det. Glen Morita for a burglary at Princeville, Perez said. Another man was arrested over the weekend for a burglary on Lawa‘i Road on Jan. 25.
Leroy Lazaro, 42, of Waimea, was arrested for first-degree burglary for an incident at Hale Ilikai, 4838 Lawa‘i Rd. in Lawa‘i.
Perez hopes the reward will continue to convince people to come forward with information about either the crimes or the stolen property, which in most cases was traded for cash or drugs.
Anyone with information about the burglaries or stolen property should call Perez, 241-1686.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
