Video surveillance shows clumsy thief in smash-and-grab burglary at Hi-Tech Pāʻia

A smash-and-grab burglary was captured on store surveillance video at the Hi-Tech Surf Sports store in Pāʻia this week. The incident reportedly occurred in the early morning hours, shortly before 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 at the store located at 58 Baldwin Ave.

Video shows a shirtless male suspect entering the business after four rocks were thrown at a double pane display window to gain entry, according to store owner Kim Ball. The suspect is seen browsing the sunglass rack, dropping items along the way and taking a handful of merchandise including skateboards, eyewear and backpacks.

The video lasts about 1 minute and 30 seconds before the suspect is observed fleeing out of the same window and into the street.

Break-ins are not new to the business, which has been the target of crash-and-run incidents at properties in Kīhei and Kahului. It comes after a widely reported incident at the Kīhei store in August of 2021, in which a suspect drove a Tacoma pick-up truck “back and forth” within the store while an employee was within. Ball said the suspect in that incident “almost ran over our assistant manager.”

Ball said the Kīhei store had two smash-and-grab incidents this year. “We’ve had numerous break-ins in Pāʻia, Kīhei and in our Kahului stores during our 40 years in business. We’ve had two other drive-throughs at the Kahului store,” Ball told Maui Now.

Ball tells us window replacement will cost about $5,000 with a lead time of 8-10 weeks for repairs. He estimates the cost of the items stolen to be around $2,000.

The suspect had yet to be identified or detained at last report. Anyone with information on Wednesday’s incident is asked to call Maui police.