2008 Woodie Awards
Hale Aloha burglar an Army specialist
Mark Brislin and Tiffany Hill
Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: News
When Sarah woke up Sunday morning in her Hale Aloha Lokelani dorm room at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa she noticed some of her belongings were gone.
"I noticed my iPod was missing … and also some of my underwear," she said.
Sarah, who wished to have her last name withheld for privacy, was at least one Hale Aloha Lokelani resident burglarized Sunday morning.
"What I heard was he stole a bunch of stuff from my room … went to another girl's room and woke her up … and the girl's friend chased him down and caught him, and they found all my stuff on him," Sarah said.
The Honolulu Police Department arrested Mark Andrew Heath, 20, who is a Reconnaissance Specialist in the Army, at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday. He was arrested in suspicion of a burglary at the freshman dorm, according to city and state officials.
Heath was charged yesterday with two separate felony charges, according to Executive Assistant to the Prosecutor Jim Fulton.
The first charge against Heath is an unauthorized entry into a dwelling, a class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail, Fulton said. He added that the second charge against Heath is burglary in the first degree, a class B felony with a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail.
Heath was caught after he tried to force his way into a female resident's dorm room and was chased down the hall by the resident's boyfriend, who was inside the room, after Heath tried to run away, according to the court documents.
The student who stopped Heath told police that Heath appeared to be intoxicated, according to the court documents.
When police searched Heath, they found an I-Pod and two pairs of women's underwear on him, according the court document.
HPD Captain Frank Fujii said police still haven't decided if Heath was the person involved in previous burglaries to the dorm a few days before. "We're still looking to see if it was the same person," he said.
Heath's bail has been set for $100,000, "which is very high in this type of case," Fulton said.
Heath has no previous criminal record, according to court documents. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in District Court, said Fulton.
University response to burglaries
This has not been the first major burglary incident in the freshman dorms to happen this semester. Gregg Takayama, the UH director of communications, said that despite the fact that there are no HPD patrols on campus, the police usually arrive at the dorms three to four minutes after being notified.
He explained that at the beginning of the semester following the burglaries and sexual assault incident in August, the university petitioned for two off-duty HPD officers to patrol the dorms at night. "However, it was vetoed by the (HPD) police chief," Takayama said. "It is our understanding that because the university is a state facility, it wasn't appropriate that it be patrolled by a city funded operation."
Takayama added, however, as an alternative, the university will try to improve Campus Security patrols. "We're going to ask the state Legislature when they convene in January for $1 million to hire 25 Campus Security officers."
In addition, Student Housing Services is requesting funding to install security cameras in the freshman dorms, Takayama said. He added that they are also thinking of installing automatic locks on the doors but that Housing has not made a definite decision to do so as of now.
Since August, student housing has also mandated around-the-clock identification card checks at the lobby desk. "They check IDs every time I walk in," said Hale Lokelani resident Robert Kress. "It's pretty irritating."
"I noticed my iPod was missing … and also some of my underwear," she said.
Sarah, who wished to have her last name withheld for privacy, was at least one Hale Aloha Lokelani resident burglarized Sunday morning.
"What I heard was he stole a bunch of stuff from my room … went to another girl's room and woke her up … and the girl's friend chased him down and caught him, and they found all my stuff on him," Sarah said.
The Honolulu Police Department arrested Mark Andrew Heath, 20, who is a Reconnaissance Specialist in the Army, at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday. He was arrested in suspicion of a burglary at the freshman dorm, according to city and state officials.
Heath was charged yesterday with two separate felony charges, according to Executive Assistant to the Prosecutor Jim Fulton.
The first charge against Heath is an unauthorized entry into a dwelling, a class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail, Fulton said. He added that the second charge against Heath is burglary in the first degree, a class B felony with a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail.
Heath was caught after he tried to force his way into a female resident's dorm room and was chased down the hall by the resident's boyfriend, who was inside the room, after Heath tried to run away, according to the court documents.
The student who stopped Heath told police that Heath appeared to be intoxicated, according to the court documents.
When police searched Heath, they found an I-Pod and two pairs of women's underwear on him, according the court document.
HPD Captain Frank Fujii said police still haven't decided if Heath was the person involved in previous burglaries to the dorm a few days before. "We're still looking to see if it was the same person," he said.
Heath's bail has been set for $100,000, "which is very high in this type of case," Fulton said.
Heath has no previous criminal record, according to court documents. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in District Court, said Fulton.
University response to burglaries
This has not been the first major burglary incident in the freshman dorms to happen this semester. Gregg Takayama, the UH director of communications, said that despite the fact that there are no HPD patrols on campus, the police usually arrive at the dorms three to four minutes after being notified.
He explained that at the beginning of the semester following the burglaries and sexual assault incident in August, the university petitioned for two off-duty HPD officers to patrol the dorms at night. "However, it was vetoed by the (HPD) police chief," Takayama said. "It is our understanding that because the university is a state facility, it wasn't appropriate that it be patrolled by a city funded operation."
Takayama added, however, as an alternative, the university will try to improve Campus Security patrols. "We're going to ask the state Legislature when they convene in January for $1 million to hire 25 Campus Security officers."
In addition, Student Housing Services is requesting funding to install security cameras in the freshman dorms, Takayama said. He added that they are also thinking of installing automatic locks on the doors but that Housing has not made a definite decision to do so as of now.
Since August, student housing has also mandated around-the-clock identification card checks at the lobby desk. "They check IDs every time I walk in," said Hale Lokelani resident Robert Kress. "It's pretty irritating."
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