Apparently, GoPros are a hot item on the black market in Maui. Yesterday three people backed their SUV into Hi-Tech Surf Sports, a local shop that specializes in pretty much everything waterman–from surfing to kite to windsurfing and SUP. As you can see in the vid, the perps made a serious b-line to the plexiglass case where they took a crowbar to it and stole as many Hero Blacks as they could get their paws on. They also grabbed Karma drones and for good measure, 30 women’s swimsuits.
“They tried to take a surfboard but they couldn’t fit it in the car,” Hi-Tech President Kim Ball, who runs four shops on Maui, told us.
Ball says that Hi-Tech has now been victim to the “GoPro Grandslam,” with each of his stores falling victim to similar thievery.
“It’s definitely about drugs,” Ball says. “We found out one was sold at a Shell Station in Paia for $60 bucks. When you’re selling a $400-camera for $60 bucks it’s definitely about drugs. They’re small, you can take a bunch of them. They’re way easier to fence than surfboards.”
The bandits’ means were fairly barbaric: back the car into the store and go to town. And this archaic method seems to be a thing on the island. “Twelve years ago we had an SUV go through our front door and it went all the way to the counter,” says Ball. “The worst part was that there were a bunch of Ole longboards and HIC boards that fell behind the SUV and they ran over about 20 beautiful boards on the way out.”
Ball estimates around $10,000 in gear was taken this time and the store suffered another $10 grand in damage. But he’s keeping it positive: “We’re lucky,” he says. “We have great community support and a lot of people have rached out to us.”
