Charges Filed in Monday’s Robbery in Kona Parking Lot

A 20-year-old homeless man has been charged in connection with a robbery that occurred shortly after midnight Sunday in Kailua-Kona.

Police said 20-year-old Alexander Cho was charged Wednesday with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and third-degree theft.

Cho, who was arrested early Tuesday, was being held in lieu of $77,000 bail pending an initial court appearance today.

The charges stem from an attack on a 26-year-old Kealakekua man in the parking lot of the Ali`i Sunset Plaza. The victim told police that he had gone to the northwest corner of the parking lot with a local man he had met in a bar. There they met with five or six other men who punched and kicked the victim and stole his backpack.

The victim suffered a broken jaw and minor cuts and scrapes. He was treated at Kona Community Hospital and released.

Police have renewed their request for help from anyone who saw the attack or saw the victim talking with a local male in the Coconut Grove area. The victim was wearing shorts and a striped tank top.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Det. Walter Ah Mow at 326-4646, Ext. 238.

This was the second time in six weeks that a man sustained a broken jaw in an assault in the Ali`i Sunset Plaza parking lot. The victim in the Oct. 16 attack was a 50-year-old tourist from California.