Khon2: Honolulu police search for mob after North Shore beating

khon2 reports Honolulu police are searching for a mob accused of brutally beating a 23-year-old lifeguard and a 15-year-old boy on Oahu’s North Shore. Kekoa Tamale said he tried to help his 15-year-old family friend on Saturday night and was beaten when he stepped in.

Tamale said the attack began after he first encountered the group at a party at Pipeline, where he said a boy punched him in the back of the head. He later went to Dead Man’s Curve and said he found the same group attacking his friend.

Kekoa Tamale at Dead Man’s Curve

Tamale said he estimated about a dozen people were targeting the teen. He said the group dragged the 15-year-old out of the car, and described the attackers as a mix of men and high schoolers. “They drag this 15-year-old out of the car. It was a mix of men and high schoolers, but pretty big guys, and they were holding him down, and he’s not a big guy,” Tamale said.

He said one aggressor had the boy in a hog tie while others kicked and punched him. “The fact that they had him, holding him, it’s like torture, it’s like torture, like holding him, holding his legs. It’s disgusting,” he said.

Pipeline and the recording

After Tamale tackled one attacker, he said the group turned on him. “At one point, they were trying to drown me. One boy had my hair, and he was like putting me in the water. Every time I tried to get up and back up, someone would try and tackle me,” he said.

Tamale said bystanders recorded the assault instead of stepping in. “Everyone was either filming, laughing, or ran, so no one was helping this boy and if I didn’t do anything, he would’ve died,” he said. “They posted a whole tik tok, they didn’t feel bad about it.”

Tamale said he broke his hand, broke his eye socket, had reconstructive surgery on his eye and suffered a concussion. Honolulu police are searching for the attackers, and the account places the violence across two North Shore locations on the same night.

Family members on Oahu

Jake Withrow, a family friend of Tamale and the teen, said the attack should not have happened. “that should’ve never happened, shouldn’t happen to anybody. It’s horrible,” he said. Family members of the 15-year-old said they wanted to protect his identity and did not want to do an interview.

The police search leaves one immediate question for people tied to the incident: whether anyone in the group is identified after the assault moved from Pipeline to Dead Man’s Curve and ended with the teen able to run off and get help.