NAWILIWILI — “They didn’t take any food,” said Michelle Panoke, rushing out the door to attend her daughter’s wedding Tuesday afternoon. “They made a mess of things, but at least they didn’t take any food.” Some time Monday night, burglars
NAWILIWILI — “They didn’t take any food,” said Michelle Panoke, rushing out the door to attend her daughter’s wedding Tuesday afternoon. “They made a mess of things, but at least they didn’t take any food.”
Some time Monday night, burglars broke into the Kaua‘i Food Bank facility in Nawiliwili and made off with approximately $241 in cash after grinding off the door of a safe in the building.
“That included $10 in a donation that came in to the front,” said Kelvin Moniz, the development officer for the food bank. “The burglars must’ve spent some time in here.”
Moniz said the burglars used a small grinder that was supposed to be locked up in a tool room. That fact led him to believe that the perpetrators knew what they were doing.
“They tried to pry open the back door, but we just replaced the door guards so they were unsuccessful,” Moniz said. “Instead, they came around the building and pried open one of the wall panels to gain entry.”
That also led him to suspect that the thieves knew about the food bank because the section where the panel was worked on is immediately behind one of the refrigerators where there is about an 18-inch crawl space.
Moniz said if the thieves had broken in a little more toward Nawiliwili Road, they would’ve hit the office; a little more toward the harbor and they would’ve hit the storage area; all of which have no access space once the wall panel was removed.
Additionally, Moniz said it was probably more than one person because someone had to hold open the panel while another crawled in. There was no evidence the panel was bent back to allow access.
“The police are investigating the incident,” Moniz said. “They came down and did a thorough job of collecting evidence, including fingerprints from all the affected areas as well as taking the grinder that was used to open the safe.”
The break-in was discovered by James Hughes, who normally reports in around 6:30 a.m.
“I knew something was wrong because the back door was open and everything was a mess,” Hughes said.
Moniz said the burglars rummaged through various desk areas, seeking out what they thought contained money.
“They spent some time opening the bad returns,” Moniz said. “They … tore up Michelle’s desk and came up empty, not knowing that she had some change that she uses when she needs soda, or something.”
Wendi Rusaw, the food bank’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program coordinator, said the perpetrators went after remittances.
“They opened anything they thought had money,” Rusaw said.
Moniz said as far as food stores are concerned, it appeared that nothing was touched.
“The main thing is that nobody was here when it happened and nobody got hurt,” Moniz said.
The Kaua‘i Food Bank has been burglarized at least four times in the past 10 years, Moniz said. In all of those incidents, money appeared to be the target, but Moniz said there is no money at the Nawiliwili facility because the staff makes daily deposits, and during the big collection days, the money collected goes straight to the banks.
Moniz said the food bank break-in comes on the heels of another incident involving the Salvation Army, where someone ran into the thrift store on Rice Street and made off with money from the register.
Mary McFarland, the Salvation Army Kokua Kitchen manager, confirmed the incident last week, but was sketchy on the details.
“The police know who it is,” she said. “They just cannot do anything unless they witness the event.”
Anyone with information on the break-in should call the Kaua‘i Police Department.
