KEALAKEKUA — Allegedly stealing $100 and a purse valued at $60 has led to a woman facing possible trial on eight counts, all stemming from a strange saga that involves apparently stolen wood, ducks and rabbits.
Vanda Hokukea Ventura, 22, of Ocean View, is charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of fourth-degree theft, one count each of first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree burglary and third-degree assault.
The charges are the result of robberies on March 6 — in an unusual encounter that included a child offering Ventura money to leave her parents alone — and April 6 in Ocean View, where Ventura was also arrested July 6.
It started, according to court testimony Wednesday during Ventura’s preliminary hearing, when Ventura called the home of Elias Padilla and Gregoria Reyes in March.
“Tomorrow, I will kill your husband,” Reyes testified Ventura told her over the phone.
Reyes said Ventura claimed Padilla had taken material from Ventura’s grandmother’s house. While Reyes contacted police, she said Ventura called two more times before showing up in a red truck driven by another woman.
Ventura came to the door and demanded money to replace the stolen wood, according to a statement to Hawaii Police Department Detective Walter Ah Mow.
“I’m going to kill you because you stole a lot of stuff from my grandmother,” Reyes testified Ventura told Padilla.
Padilla told Ventura he didn’t take anything, but if there was anything from the grandmother’s house in the yard, Ventura was free to take it.
“What am I going to do with (expletive) wood?” Ventura said, according to Ah Mow. Instead, she asked for $100.
The pair closed the door on Ventura and left the front area but Ventura came in the house. There, the couple’s then-14-year-old daughter offered $10, Reyes said, which Ventura ignored in pursuit of the adults. Ventura allegedly grabbed Reyes by the right upper arm and said she would kill the whole family if she didn’t get the money, according to testimony.
Reyes testified that her husband was not working at the time, but they decided to hand over the $100.
Then Ventura left, Reyes said.
“She left laughing,” she said, “like happy, because she got money.”
Reyes later checked with the grandmother, who reported nothing taken. It wasn’t the first time they’ve have trouble with Ventura, Reyes said, as she stole three ducks and two rabbits to trade for drugs.
She was involved in a later offense as well, according to police.
Ah Mow testified that Ventura reportedly went to the home of another victim, claiming she was recovering money for laundry done while living at the victim’s home.
When the victim refused to pay for a debt she said did not exist, Ventura allegedly tried to steal a DVD player. Ventura told Ah Mow she took a purse to pay for the debt and the victim fell while trying to grab it. The victim told Ah Mow Ventura shoved her to the floor and re-injured one of her ribs.
District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga found probable cause for the case and sent it to circuit court. Ventura will appear there at 11:30 a.m. July 21 for her arraignment and plea. Her bail is set at $33,500.