Two men are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail each after being indicted on charges of robbing gas stations in Kahului and Kihei last week.
During appearances Tuesday morning in 2nd Circuit Court, Bronson Foster-Benson, 21, of Kihei and Namon Parks, 31, of Waianae, Oahu, pleaded not guilty to two counts each of first-degree robbery.
Police said the robberies occurred at about 5:05 a.m. Nov. 13 at Port Town Chevron on Kaahumanu Avenue and about 45 minutes later at Kihei Chevron on South Kihei Road.
In both robberies, two men were seen with one standing at the door and the other entering the gas station stores, brandishing a handgun and demanding money, police said.
The robbers fled after taking $300 cash from Port Town Chevron and an estimated $131 from Kihei Chevron, police said.
After being tentatively identified as suspects, Foster-Benson and Parks were arrested shortly before 5 p.m. Nov. 13 in a sedan in a parking lot at 1847 S. Kihei Road, police said. A 20-year-old Haiku man in the car also was arrested, then released pending further investigation of robbery charges.
Foster-Benson, who was identified as the suspect brandishing the handgun, also was charged with two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.
Jan. 28 trials were set for both men. Both suspects were ordered to stay away from both Chevron gas stations and the three employees who were working during the robberies. Foster-Benson and Parks also were ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs.
Bail hearings for both men are scheduled Friday.
