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Suspect confesses to Serpico robbery, detective testifies

Crime Stoppers tip leads police to defendant

By Lila Fujimoto 7 min read

WAILUKU -- A Maui Crime Stoppers tip about a robber's identity led police to investigate a 46-year-old man, who admitted he robbed a Pukalani restaurant less than a mile from his residence, a police detective said Thursday.

Damion Emeson reported being "drug sick and desperate to obtain more drugs" when he robbed Serpico's Pizzeria on April 8, said Detective Dennis Clifton.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing due to the proximity of Serpico's to his residence," Clifton said while testifying at a preliminary hearing for Emeson in Wailuku District Court.

Judge Blaine Kobayashi ruled there was sufficient evidence to find probable cause for charges of first-degree robbery, habitual property crime and third-degree promoting a dangerous drug against Emeson. He also is charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.

"But for the confession, this would be a tough case," said Deputy Prosecutor Johann Smith. "We know that he's telling the truth because there's too many things here."

Clifton said Emeson's account of the robbery was corroborated by witnesses and surveillance video from businesses near Serpico's.

The robbery was reported at 1:15 p.m. when a man wearing a motorcycle helmet walked into the restaurant.

Malachi Clark, a 19-year-old University of Hawaii Maui College student who works as a waiter at Serpico's, said six customers were in the restaurant, along with a waitress and other employees.

He said he was standing behind the counter next to the waitress when the man walked in. The black motorcycle helmet had a visor so Clark said he couldn't see the man's face, just part of his neck. With clothing covering most of the man's body, Clark said he could see only the man's hands, which held a paper bag.

"He had his arm in the bag. As he took his arm out, he had a gun," Clark testified. "He continued to ask me to put money in the bag."

Clark said the gun looked like a black pistol.

"He pointed it at me and placed it on the counter and kept his hand on it," Clark said.

He said the gun barrel was pointed toward him.

"When I was emptying the register, he kept repeating, 'Hurry up,' '' Clark said.

After Clark walked back to the counter and gave the robber the bag containing about $300, the robber left the restaurant and walked down Old Haleakala Highway toward Minit Stop, Clark said.

He called police as soon as the robber left.

Clark said the robbery was "pretty scary."

"I've never had a gun pointed at me before," Clark said.

But he said he remained calm, worried about other people in the restaurant. "I didn't want other people getting hurt," he said.

Clark said the waitress seemed to know what was happening because they made eye contact during the robbery.

Detective Clifton said surveillance video from Minit Stop and McDonald's, which are across the street from and below Serpico's on Old Haleakala Highway, shows a silver Toyota multipurpose vehicle reversing from Healani Street into the parking lot behind Minit Stop at 1:10 p.m. A minute or two later, someone wearing a motorcycle helmet is seen walking on Kilakila Place toward Old Haleakala Highway, Clifton said.

At 1:18 p.m., someone wearing a motorcycle helmet is seen carrying a paper bag and walking through the Minit Stop rear parking lot back to the silver multipurpose vehicle, Clifton said.

"He gets into the driver seat and immediately drives off onto Kilakila Place and turns right onto Old Haleakala Highway," Clifton said.

He said police also obtained surveillance video from the Texaco gas station, which is mauka of Serpico's on Old Haleakala Highway. The house where Emeson was living is directly behind the Texaco and has a driveway next to the gas station, Clifton said. The video shows a silver Toyota multipurpose vehicle leaving the driveway of the residence and turning right toward Serpico's at 1:08 p.m. that day.

The home is 0.1 to 0.2 mile from Serpico's and 0.3 mile from Minit Stop, Clifton said.

Emeson had moved into the house about a month before the robbery, said resident Christopher Tavares. He testified that Emeson and his silver Toyota Highlander had been home when Tavares left the house at about 10:30 a.m. April 8 to have brunch with his family in Wailuku.

A couple of days after the robbery, Tavares said he noticed that his black motorcycle helmet, which he kept in the garage, and his black airsoft gun, which he kept below the television in the living room, were missing.

Tavares said he decided to look for the helmet and gun after seeing a newspaper article saying a weapon had been used in the robbery. Tavares said he recognized his helmet in a Maui Crime Stoppers photo showing the robbery suspect.

Smith asked if the height and size of the person wearing the helmet resembled anyone Tavares knew.

"Damion," he replied.

Tavares said the silver vehicle in a Maui Crime Stoppers photo looked like Emeson's Toyota Highlander.

Detective Clifton said police interviewed Tavares after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip naming Emeson as the robber and tracking down Emeson's residence.

Although the license plate number of the Toyota wasn't visible in surveillance video, police had investigated a tip providing the license plate number of a vehicle that matched the description and learned that Emeson owned a 2002 silver Toyota multipurpose vehicle, Clifton said.

Police arrested Emeson shortly after 9 a.m. Monday when a Maui Crime Stoppers tip reported he was in a vehicle behind a residence in Makawao, Clifton said.

During his interview with police, Emeson described taking the motorcycle helmet from the garage and the black semiautomatic pistol from the television console of the residence before driving to the Minit Stop parking lot, Clifton said.

Emeson said he put on the motorcycle helmet and took a shopping bag and walked to Serpico's, Clifton said. He said Emeson reported saying, "Put the money in the bag" during the robbery and telling the restaurant employee to "hurry up" a couple of times.

After walking out of the restaurant and back to the Minit Stop rear parking lot, Emeson said he drove down Old Haleakala Highway and went to the Tesoro gas station on Kele Street in Kahului, where he threw the gun in a trash can, Clifton said. He said Emeson described the gun as "a toy."

Emeson reported disposing of the motorcycle helmet in a trash can at the county Department of Motor Vehicles and Licensing, Clifton said. He said Emeson reported getting $270 in the robbery.

Clifton said police found no evidence of the robbery in a search of Emeson's vehicle.

But in a cosmetics case on the front passenger seat, police found a clear Ziploc bag containing five empty syringes, a white metal spoon and a syringe with a clear blue liquid, Clifton said. Emeson said the syringe contained Oxycontin, Clifton said.

Emeson's prior record includes convictions for second-degree burglary, attempted second-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree theft, attempted second-degree theft, three counts of third-degree theft and fourth-degree theft.

If convicted of the robbery charge, Emeson faces a mandatory prison sentence as a repeat offender, Smith said.

Emeson is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the Maui Community Correctional Center.

He is scheduled to be arraigned May 8 in 2nd Circuit Court.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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