Authorities Charge Man in Hilo Restaurant Burglaries

Kenneth Harris. HPD photo.

A man is in custody and has been charged with eight offenses in connection with a series of break-ins at a restaurant in Hilo.

The Hawai’i Police Department reports that officers responded to a report that someone had broken into a restaurant located on the 300 block of Keawe Street sometime between Wednesday and Thursday.

A police investigation led to the determination that a man had attempted to cash a check that was stolen in another burglary at the same restaurant.

Forty-nine-year-old Kenneth Harris of Hilo was arrested and taken to the Hilo police cellblock as Area I Criminal Investigations Section detectives continued to investigate.

It was determined that Harris was also a suspect in several other burglaries at the same location since May 4.

Police say that during one of the burglaries, a cash register was removed. The register was recovered from a storm drain canal near the Bayfront soccer fields.

Harris was charged at 10:30 a.m. on Friday with two counts of second-degree burglary and one count each of second-degree theft, second-degree forgery, fourth-degree theft, fourth-degree criminal property damage, second-degree ID theft, and unauthorized possession of confidential information.

Bail for Harris was set at $15,500 and he remains at the cellblock awaiting his initial court appearance on Monday.