Lt. Fujitake Named August’s Officer of the Month

Officer of the Month Lt. Robert Fujitake with Aloha Club Member James Sanborn. HPD courtesy photo.

Lieutenant Robert Fujitake was recognized as the August Officer of the Month by the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawai‘i on Thursday, Sept. 27.

Lt. Fujitake recently demonstrated keen judgement and a dedication to his work that led to the end of an ongoing string of thefts and burglaries.

On Aug. 29, Lt. Fujitake was off-duty and traveling with his family when he witnessed a strange event and decided to investigate it further.

A man walking a bicycle on the shoulder of the road had entered a store parking lot and left the bike leaning against the wall. Lt. Fujitake asked his wife to turn the car around because he thought “something just didnʻt look right.”

Minutes later, Lt. Fujitake saw the man leaving the carport of a nearby residence with an object in his hand that he did not have before. Lt. Fujitake contacted the on-duty supervisor and provided a physical description and location of the man while keeping a safe distance with his family.

As a result, Lt. Fujitake and his team of community police officers identified the man as a suspect previously caught on video surveillance footage burglarizing a local restaurant. The man was arrested, and police were able to solve a series of ongoing burglaries, thefts and auto thefts they had been investigating.