On July 20, a Honolulu Fire truck was stolen on Farrington Highway on the leeward side. The suspect was apprehended, without incident, shortly thereafter. On August 2, four people scaled the Halawa Station HART fence and decided to traipse alongside the tracks and the now deadly (as it’s electrified for testing) third rail. Fortunately, no one was hurt… this time. On October 8, a man stole a loader dump truck and drove around erratically, causing consternation for other drivers and causing police to chase him ()stop and go) for almost five hours between downtown, Nimitz Highway, the Ala Moana area, and finally Kuhio Avenue. He was eventually captured after much HPD patience and some nervous moments. This was surely not the right type of entertainment to bring tourists back to Waikiki.
Perhaps you’re detecting a trend here? A new breed of nonchalant, clueless and/or troubled individuals sees a vehicular or transit opening these days and simply takes it, literally! As for hopping a fence under with no sense of danger around rail tracks… well, now everyone knows. Death lurks as the track works. We might‘ve had our first HART “rider” fatality before the entity actually running, which occurs only if we get wheels that fit. At least a HART thief can’t take the train anywhere.
Maybe these are all warnings. The easy days of casually leaving a bus running or the car idling while you do your work or relax outside said vehicles are gone. Sensitive equipment and electronic-based remote systems often require responding pros to leave the motors humming. So far, this year, no one’s been seriously hurt. But if vehicular snatching can happen with a refuse vehicle and a fire truck, what about HPD patrol cars or ambulances? What about City, tour, and school buses? Maybe meandering miscreants have simply gotten bolder, or care less about consequences; thus ends the era of casually leaving one’s car/truck/bus/train/airplane purring.
Brazen bystanders locally now appear ready to enjoy a joyride when the moment strikes them, a concept over which first responders or any responders might have little control. Taking the keys out of vehicles would be counterproductive to the mission, or seem like an affront to decency and civility, but many of us also remember not having to lock up our houses years ago. As Chilliwack and Bad Company each sang, those days are sadly “gone, gone, gone”.
Think about it…