By Leila Fujimori
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HONOLULU — An apparently unprovoked acid attack in Chinatown late Friday night left a 30-year-old man with severe chemical burns to his face and shocked many who work, dine and shop in the area.
The Honolulu Police Department said the victim was assaulted while crossing the street just before midnight on North Hotel Street in the vicinity of Smith Street and Nuuanu Avenue, where several restaurants are located. Although the restaurants were closed at the time, a few bars in the area stay open until midnight or later.
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Police said the Honolulu Fire Department identified the substance used in the assault as sulfuric acid.
Emergency Medical Services paramedics treated the victim for severe chemical burns and transported him to an area hospital in serious condition, according to an EMS report. Police listed his condition as critical.
The culprit was described in an HPD social media post as an approximately 6-foot-tall male wearing a blue, fitted shirt and a durag head covering, “with a camera around his neck and carrying a red bottle.” HPD later updated the description to grey short-sleeved shirt, light-colored shorts and blue athletic shoes.
Police urged anyone with information on the incident to call 911 or contact CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300 or via the P3 Tip app, or go to any police station.
“That’s insane, ” said Daler Ishankulov, 35, outside a Chinatown restaurant Saturday where he frequently dines. “How do you get ahold of acid ? Doesn’t make any sense.”
Ishankulov, who lives in Waikiki , said he travels a lot and moved to Hawaii in 2009.
“It’s turning like the mainland, ” he said, noting a recent increase in gun violence. “Hawaii has always been the safest place.”
A young woman working in a North Hotel Street restaurant said she saw police and an ambulance responding to an incident late Friday night but doesn’t know exactly what happened.
“There’s always something going down around here, ” said the woman, who did not want to be identified. “It feels a little unsafe.”
Harry Seda, owner of the Old Ironside Tattoo on Smith Street, was unaware of the acid attack, saying he closes up shop by 8 p.m.
“There’s crimes all the time. There’s stabbings all the time, ” he said. “Nothing ever seems to change.
“The acid thing is something to worry about. This is a big deal, ” Seda said. “Friday is when people come to hang out.”
He said the city is going to have to work harder to keep the area safe.
City worker Josaiah Akrins, 23, was sweeping the sidewalk in the general vicinity of Friday’s attack but had heard it occurred near HPD’s Chinatown substation.
“It’s really crazy, ” he said. “It is Chinatown though.”
A few people said Friday’s incident recalled two recent acid attacks on Oahu .
Paul Cameron is a suspect in both the April 2023 attack on a young woman he knew in front of 24 Hour Fitness in Mililani, which caused severe chemical burns to her face and body, and a January 2024 incident near the Ala Moana Planet Fitness, in a random attack of a Mandarin language teacher who was critically injured.
Cameron, while in jail for the first attack, allegedly conspired with fellow inmate Sebastian Mahkwan to have Mahkwan carry out the second attack, in an attempt to cast doubt on who was responsible for the 2023 assault.
Both are in custody awaiting trial.
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