|
Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
|
Chapmans' extradition dismissed
A federal judge dismissed extradition proceedings yesterday against bounty hunters Duane "Dog" Chapman, his son Leland and Timothy Chapman.
In a court document, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren stated that the "government failed to meet its burden of showing that the Chapmans are currently charged with an extraditable offense in Mexico and that a valid warrant for their arrest exists."
In June 2003, Mexican officials filed a criminal complaint against them, alleging that they committed "unlawful deprivation of liberty" of Max Factor heir and convicted rapist Andrew Luster when they captured him in Puerto Vallarta. Luster is serving a 124-year prison term for raping three women.
In September 2006, U.S. marshals arrested Chapman, his son and Tim Chapman, who is not related, for extradition at the request of a Mexican government. They were released pending the outcome of the extradition proceedings.
While the case against them is done in the United States, an appeal of the case is pending in Mexico, said Brook Hart, one of three attorneys who represented Duane Chapman in the case.
Duane Chapman was scheduled to appear on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" show at 4 p.m. today.
Sewer project is nearly complete
City crews will begin removing today a temporary sewer pipe that has been lining the median of Kalanianaole Highway near Niu Valley for more than two years.
The nightly work, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., should take about a week and could cause traffic delays and loud noise from the heavy equipment.
The left lane in each direction will be closed. Work will start at Kawaikui Beach Park and proceed toward Niu Valley.
This job started in June 2005 as an emergency bypass system to stop sewage spills after a cast-iron pipe ruptured several times. The city recently installed an underground force main now in operation going from Kawaikui Beach Park to the Niu Valley Wastewater Pump.
For more information, contact the project hot line at 216-8874.
|
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
|
CENTRAL OAHU
Wahiawa woman was crash victim
The Medical Examiner's Office identified the 51-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident Saturday night as Karen Ann Marzan of Wahiawa.
Police said excessive speed was apparently a factor in the accident, which also injured her passenger, a 34-year-old Mililani man.
Marzan was driving a Jeep multipurpose vehicle on Kamehameha Highway when it sped into an intersection at Joseph P. Leong Highway.
It overturned and slammed into a guardrail before falling over and landing upside down in a brush area. Marzan was found dead at the scene.
LEEWARD OAHU
Fire destroys part of Waianae home
Fire damaged a four-bedroom Waianae house yesterday, destroying 20 percent of the home.
Fire Capt. Frank Johnson said the fire destroyed one bedroom of the home on Waianae Valley Road.
No one was home at the time of the fire.
About 20 firefighters responded to the 5:20 p.m. fire and had it under control within 15 minutes, Johnson said.
The fire remains under investigation.
Man is arrested in alleged car theft
Police arrested a 19-year-old Nanakuli man early yesterday who allegedly stole a car that was left running outside a Waianae convenience store.
Police said the owner of the car, a 49-year-old man, parked it outside the store and left it running as he walked into the store. When he came out, the car was gone, police said.
At about 2:30 a.m., a patrol officer stopped the vehicle on Farrington Highway for a traffic violation and arrested the driver on suspicion of auto theft.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Crash kills Kailua-Kona man, 23
A 23-year-old Kailua-Kona man died Sunday in a one-car crash near the 85-mile marker on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, according to Big Island police.
The man was identified as Michael Gomes.
Police said Gomes was traveling south at about 3:30 p.m. when he lost control of his car, which went off the road and overturned. Police said he was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car. He died at Kona Community Hospital.
An 18-year-old woman and a 2-year-old boy in the car were treated and released with minor injuries. The woman was wearing a seat belt, and the boy was in a child restraint seat, police said.
Police said witnesses reported that before the crash the car was traveling at a high rate of speed and had overtaken four to five other vehicles.
Police believe that speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
This is the 34th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with 29 at this time last year.
Man, 65, found floating in sea dies
A 65-year-old Dartmouth, Mass., man died yesterday after his body was found floating face down in shallow waters at Kahaluu Beach Park in Kona, police said.
Lifeguards recovered the body a few yards from the north end of the beach, the Fire Department said.
Lifeguards began CPR, and paramedics continued to work on the man while being taken by ambulance to Kona Community Hospital, where he died at 1:31 p.m.
The Fire Department received the call at about 12:07 p.m. and arrived within five minutes.