Off-duty cop arrests suspected robber during chase

Jeremiah P. Seman

An alert off-duty police officer chased and arrested a habitual offender who allegedly had just robbed a mother and her daughter who were walking toward Payless Supermarket along Beach Road, Chalan Kanoa on Tuesday night.

Jeremiah P. Seman, 32, was arrested for robbery, obstructing justice, and disturbing the peace.

The 49-year-old woman and her 22-year-old daughter were not injured. They positively identified Seman as the person who grabbed their Marc Jacobs wallet containing $200 in cash, a First Hawaiian Bank card, and a CNMI driver’s license.

An assisting police officer recovered the victim’s Marc Jacobs wallet along with its contents just a few feet from Jin’s Apartment in Susupe, where off-duty police officer Ralph Rangamar apprehended Seman.

At a hearing yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo imposed a $11,250 cash bail on Seman and appointed assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit as his counsel.

Preliminary hearing will be on July 12 at 1:30pm.

Police Detective Myron O. Laniyo stated in his report that on Tuesday at 8:32pm, police officers responded to a robbery incident that occurred along Beach Road in front of Payless Supermarket.

Laniyo said investigation showed that the victims had just left their home at Tasi Homes by Sugar Dock and were walking along Beach Road heading to Payless Supermarket.

The suspect, who was later identified as Seman, came out of the jungle area by the former King’s Photo Shop and grabbed the wallet from the mother.

Seman then ran into the jungle area north of Payless Supermarket.

The 22-year-old daughter said she and her mother struggled with the suspect for possession of the wallet for a few seconds that’s why she managed to get a good look of the robber.

At 8:32pm that same night, off-duty officer Rangamar had just got off from work and was driving a police vehicle south on Texas Road in Susupe when he heard the information from DPS Central Dispatch about the robbery.

Rangamar quickly made his way to Knight Street by Shirley’s Coffee Shop in Chalan Kanoa, where he spotted a man riding a bicycle and crossing over Beach Road from Sugar Dock, heading east toward his direction.

Rangamar noted that the man was only wearing red shorts and was standing up while pedaling his mountain bike in a fast manner.

As the man came closer to Rangamar’s police vehicle, he sat down and slowed his pedaling. Rangamar recognized the man as Seman, whom he encountered numerous times in the past for theft crimes and domestic violence incidents.

Rangamar observed that Seman was breathing hard and was sweating all over his body.

Rangamar saw a wallet under Seman’s right hand, on the handle bar of the bicycle.

Rangamar immediately called Seman to stop, but the suspect instead stood up again and began to pedal hard, heading east.

Rangamar turned his police vehicle around and called DPS dispatch that he was in pursuit of Seman.

Rangamar used the police vehicle to block Seman twice, but the suspect refused to stop and maneuvered his bicycle around the police vehicle.

During the pursuit, the officer repeatedly yelled out to Seman to stop, but he would yell back to leave him alone as he did not do anything.

As Rangamar blocked the police vehicle near Jin’s Apartment in Susupe, Seman turned into the parking area of the apartment. Upon noticing he was in a fenced area, Seman got off the bicycle and started to climb the fence.

Rangamar, however, pulled him down and apprehended him.

Another police officer transported the two victims to Jin’s Apartment to identify the suspect. The victims identified Seman as the suspect through his face and beard.

The victims, however, noted that during the snatching, Seman was wearing a red sleeveless shirt, a hat, and a pair of shorts, but at that time, he was not wearing a shirt or hat.

As one officer recovered the victims’ wallet and its contents a few feet from where Seman was arrested, two other officers went back to the crime scene.

One officer later found a red sleeveless T-shirt and a gray or faded black hat along with checkered shorts in the grassy area directly in front of former King’s Photo Shop.

The victims were later called back to the scene, where they positively identified the recovered clothing and hat as the outfit of Seman during the robbery.