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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Burglary indictment names inmate
An Oahu grand jury indicted Tuesday a former Big Brothers Big Sisters truck driver, imprisoned for drugging and kidnapping a 17-year-old girl in October 2004, on a charge of burglarizing a home four months earlier.
On June 9, 2004, Anton Myklebust allegedly entered a woman's home at 3165 Arizona Road, in military housing near Salt Lake. He was charged with first-degree burglary.
In the kidnapping case, Myklebust was indicted on four counts of first-degree sexual assault and six counts of third-degree sexual assault. Police said the girl reported he injected her with methamphetamine and repeatedly sexually assaulted her in the back of a Big Brothers truck over the course of eight hours.
Prosecutors, in a plea agreement, dropped the sexual assault charges and a second kidnapping charge in exchange for his guilty pleas.
He is serving a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree robbery, kidnapping, credit card theft and unlawful methamphetamine trafficking to a minor.
COURTESY IMAGE
Identified only as a Kaneohe Marine, this man has been accused of cruelty after throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq.
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PETA badgers Corps for dog video
Kaneohe Marines continue to investigate whether two of their own were involved in a video in which a puppy appears to have been killed in Iraq.
Yesterday, Martin Mersereau, an officer with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, sent Col. Mark A. Dungan, who commands Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, a letter asking "those responsible to be court-martialed and penalized to the fullest extent of military law if the video is confirmed to be legitimate."
In a written statement, 1st Lt. Binford Strickland, Kaneohe spokesman, said, "The investigation will be thorough and will examine each person involved. Upon completion of the investigation, it will be reviewed by each Marine's commander, who will determine the appropriate action to take in each case."
The video, which showed one Marine -- believed to be a lance corporal from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, throwing the puppy into a gully.
The sister of the Marine told KIRO Radio in Seattle on Tuesday that her family has received death threats after an area newspaper reported that he was from nearby Monroe. "Our family has been suffering greatly because of this," the sister said. "We have had family pets all our life -- dogs mainly. My brother has always been a great lover of animals."
Web site puts potholes on notice
As a part of the city's war on potholes, Mayor Mufi Hannemann is encouraging motorists to visit the city's traffic Web site that allows residents to track and report pothole fixes.
"Pothole Patrol," a new feature on the city's traffic Web site introduced last month in Hannemann's State of the City speech, also provides a weekly report that details the areas and streets.
City officials said that after potholes are reported, crews should respond to the problem within five days. Hannemann said pothole repairs are short-term solutions to fixing the city's roads.
To report and track potholes, visit www.driveakamai.org or call 768-7777.
Radio will carry Keawe's funeral
KKNE 940 AM Radio and am940hawaii.com on the Internet will air a live broadcast today of the funeral of entertainer Genoa Keawe at Borthwick Mortuary from 6 to 7 p.m.
The station will feature interviews with musicians and family between 4 and 6 p.m.
Police warn motorists to avoid the area from 2 to 8 p.m. because of expected heavy traffic and delays.
American Samoan baby's rites set
The funeral for a 14-day-old baby who died after he was locked in a room at Honolulu Airport will be held Saturday at Borthwick Mortuary.
Michael Futi, his mother and his nurse were detained for 30 minutes Feb. 8 after arriving in Honolulu from American Samoa for the boy's heart surgery. The infant's health worsened, and he died soon afterward at a hospital.
Visitation is from 9 a.m. to 11:30 at Borthwick, immediately followed by a service in the chapel. The burial service is at 2 p.m. at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery.
The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii and Borthwick Mortuary arranged to have the funeral service and burial plot donated.
Futi's family plans to sue the U.S. government for liability in his death, arguing that the family's immigration papers were in order and that they should not have been detained.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man dies in crash on the Big Island
A 65-year-old North Carolina man was killed and five people were injured Tuesday night in a three-vehicle accident in Papaikou on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island.
Police identified the man who died as Robert Franklin Melvin of Cary, N.C.
Police said Cary was making a left turn at about 5:10 p.m. from Old Mamalahoa Highway onto Hawaii Belt Road in a 2008 Chevrolet four-door sedan when he was hit by a Waimea-bound 1985 Toyota multipurpose vehicle. The impact of the crash pushed the Chevy across the center line where it was hit by a Hilo-bound van, police said.
A 75-year-old South Carolina woman, who was a passenger in the Chevy, was taken to Hilo Medical in stable condition.
The driver of the Toyota, an 18-year-old Pepeekeo man, and his three passengers -- an 18-year-old woman, a 3-month-old girl and a 1-year-old girl -- also were taken to the Hilo Medical Center. The 3-month-old was listed as critical and was to be flown to Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu, police said.
The other people in the Toyota were listed as satisfactory. Police said the children were in child restraint seats.
The driver of the van was not hurt. Speed and alcohol were not considered factors in the crash, police said.
This was the ninth fatality on the Big Island this year, compared with eight at this time last year.
Military helps clear bullets at landfill
A construction worker uncovered live .50-caliber bullets at the Hilo Landfill yesterday, forcing its closure.
Big Island police said the worker was operating a backhoe to dig a waterline trench when he found the buried ammunition. Police arrived at the Leilani Street site at 8:55 a.m. after receiving a report of the discovery.
Police contacted military personnel at the Pohakuloa Training Area, who assisted in the removal. The landfill remained closed yesterday.
Cockfight raid nets gambling arrests
Big Island police arrested 10 people Sunday at a Honaunau cockfight attended by more than 100 people.
Police discovered drugs and weapons and seized $27,429 in cash for forfeiture.
Police and federal agents searched the 9.6-acre property on Napoopoo Road at 2:20 p.m. Sunday.
Officers recovered about 40 chickens and chicken boxes, cockfighting paraphernalia, four dead chickens, two 30/30 rifles, bullets, a .22-caliber long rifle and a .357-caliber pistol.
Police arrested six men on suspicion of gambling and cruelty to animals, two men on suspicion of drug offenses and a man and woman on suspicion of firearm offenses.
The suspects were from Waimea, Kailua-Kona and Honaunau.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents held five men and one woman for immigration offenses and transported them to Honolulu. Agents also placed immigration detainers on three other individuals.
WINDWARD OAHU
Suspect accused of extortion
Police arrested a man who allegedly tried to extort another man for car parts.
For the past week, police said, the suspect, an 18-year-old man, had threatened a 45-year-old Waimanalo man with harm if the man did not turn over car parts or cash.
On Monday the suspect allegedly assaulted the man while the victim was sitting in a truck. The suspect then allegedly damaged the truck, which belongs to the victim's father.
Police found the suspect Tuesday in Waimanalo and arrested him on suspicion of second-degree extortion, unauthorized entry into a vehicle and fourth-degree criminal property damage.