There has been a new twist in the curious case of leading golfer Robert Allenby who last month reported being beaten and kidnapped in Hawaii.
Hawaii Police have confirmed they have arrested a 32-year-old man on charges of identity theft, attempted theft and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
But in a press conference, Lieutenant John McCarthy told reporters there was no evidence of a kidnapping or a physical altercation.
“Honolulu police booked a 32-year-old male this afternoon for three counts of second-degree identity theft, three counts of second-degree attempted theft, and one count of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information,” the police statement read.
“The suspect was arrested at the Oahu Community Correctional Center where he was being held on a contempt warrant for an unrelated incident. The male has five previous convictions, including one felony drug conviction.
“Investigators identified numerous unauthorized charges made on Mr. Allenby’s credit cards. The charges were made at various retail and convenience stores on Oahu.
“No additional suspects are being sought, and this case has been turned over to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.”
Channel Seven in Australia reported that Allenby told them his initial version of events may not have been accurate because he had concussion and was drugged. Australian Allenby did not respond when contacted by CNN.
Allenby, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, was in Hawaii for the Sony Open and after missing the cut went out for dinner on Friday 16 January with his caddie Mick Middlemo and another friend.
Soon after the incident the 43-year-old said in an interview with the Golf Channel that as he left the wine bar he was approached by a group of men who then attacked him.
“Somebody hit me and I woke up on the streets in the gutter. I’d been thrown out of the trunk of a car and I’d been robbed,” said Allenby, who was pictured sporting cuts on his nose and forehead in the interview.
“It was scary, you just never know. You see it in the moves — I’ve seen Taken and Taken 2 and it’s kind of like a spitting image,” he added, referring to the 2008 French thriller that starred Liam Neeson.
But a woman who witnessed the incident later told Australian network Nine News that she found Allenby a block from the wine bar and not 10 kilometers away as he had suggested.
“Two homeless people were kicking me — I don’t know if they were just trying to see if I was alive. But they were trying to take stuff off me, but all I had on me was my clothes,” Allenby explained.
“I started running down the street away from them once I’d pulled myself together, and this lady was helping me, she was fantastic.”
Asked about the golfer’s claims he was beaten, Lieutenant McCarthy said: “I don’t know what physical altercation you are talking about.
“There is no kidnapping investigation going on. I don’t want to get into the details but his (Allenby’s) story with us has been very consistent.”
Allenby released a statement through the PGA Tour on Thursday.
“I want to thank the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) for their ongoing work in this investigation,” he said.
“As I have continually said, these detectives are the best at what they do and I was always confident they would discover what happened.
“I continue to fully cooperate with the HPD and I look forward to this matter being fully resolved.
“I also want to thank the many people who have expressed their support and concern for me in the last month.”
