Trial set for suspect in jewelry store theft, Kahala robbery

Feb. 28—A 40-year-old man pleaded not guilty to charges connected to a brazen jewelry store heist in Kakaako and a home invasion robbery in Kahala.

Keith Catolico was arraigned Thursday at Circuit Court via videoconference from the Oahu Community Correctional Center, pleading not guilty to charges of accomplice to first-degree robbery and second-degree burglary in the Feb. 3 break-in at Opal Fields in Waterfront Plaza.

Catolico also pleaded not guilty to second-degree robbery, kidnapping and first-degree burglary for the Nov. 9 robbery of a couple in their 70s at a Kahala home on Kaimanahila Street during the late night hours.

Judge Shirley Kawamura set his trial for April. Catolico remains at OCCC in lieu of $300, 000 bail for the jewelry store case and $1 million bail for the home invasion robbery.

Police said in charging documents that two male suspects on motorcycles rode through Waterfront Plaza, also known as Restaurant Row, to the front of Opal Fields in the early morning hours of Feb. 3.

One of the suspects allegedly threatened a security guard with a handgun, ordered him to the ground and took his cellphone.

Police said the other suspect used a hammer to break the store's glass door and shatter glass display cases. The thieves, who were wearing motorcycle helmets, then fled with items taken from the store.

The second suspect remains at-large.

In the Kahala robbery, a 76-year-old woman reported that two masked intruders entered her home through a louvered window.

She said they taped her mouth and bound her with plastic zipties before fleeing with cash and jewelry. Her 77-year-old husband, who is disabled, was in a separate room during the robbery.

Court documents said DNA collected at both crime scenes matched Catolico's DNA profile.