HONOLULU (KHON2) — The 66-year-old man accused of robbing a Waikīkī bank and releasing a noxious substance onto the bank’s occupants made his first court appearance on Oct. 23.
Court documents stated the suspect, Charles Christian, had entered the bank on Sept. 29 at approximately 2 p.m.
Upon his arrival, he was greeted by the bank’s concierge, who had escorted him to a window with a bank teller.
The documents added that Christian had slipped a note to the teller saying, “I need money, $50 $100. I don’t want to hurt you.”
The bank teller then dispensed money for Christian, to his disappointment. The teller then said she went to the back to ask for help from her supervisor, who instructed her to call the authorities.
Once the teller returned to her window, she said that she did not see Christian at the window. Instead, she saw him leaving the building, spraying an unknown chemical into the bank lobby from a canister.
The teller said that she had begun to experience an irritation from the chemical, causing her to cough, before she evacuated to another room.
Court documents showed that the bank’s concierge shared a similar recount of the story. Documents said that when the concierge welcomed Christian into the bank, she noted that he was wearing medical gloves.
After the concierge escorted Christian to the window and his alleged interaction with the teller, the concierge said that she and the customer she was assisting began to cough and experience a burning sensation.
Video surveillance obtained by authorities backs up the witnesses’ stories. Authorities were also able to obtain still-shot images of the suspect during the incident.
On Sept. 30, HPD had received an alert from the FBI that shortly before 4 p.m. on that day, a man who identified himself as Christian had turned himself in at their building.
Court documents said that he had confessed to the crime after he experienced guilt regarding the incident.
“Christian told [authorities] that he had seen the news about how 18 people had been injured from his OC spray and he felt bad about it and wanted to turn himself in,” the documents said.
Christian also said that he had hidden the canister, alleged to contain the OC spray, in a tree near the FBI building. Out of an abundance of caution, a bomb technician recovered the canister to verify that it was not explosive material.
That canister was later positively identified as the one used in the video.
HPD officers who responded to the initial incident positively identified Christian as the suspect in the video and arrested him, the document said.
Christian was then charged with Robbery in the Second Degree on Oct. 2, and is being held on $100,000 bail.