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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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HONOLULU
Witness in Manoa spies alleged thief
An alert neighbor helped catch a suspected thief early yesterday.
At 3:27 a.m. a 46-year-old woman was in her living room in Manoa when she saw the suspect walking on the road, police said.
She said she saw the man break into another woman's vehicle, take property, then leave in his own vehicle. The witness called police, who stopped the suspect on Oahu Avenue at Kaala Street, police said.
Police arrested the man, 28, after he was identified by the witness, on suspicion of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
LEEWARD OAHU
Stolen check lands woman in custody
Police arrested a 54-year-old woman who allegedly tried to cash a stolen check.
At about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the woman entered a Waianae establishment wanting to cash a personal check belonging to a 26-year-old man.
Police said the cashier became suspicious and called the phone number listed on the check. It was discovered that the check was reported stolen in an auto theft case. The cashier stalled the suspect until police arrived. The woman was arrested on suspicion of second-degree forgery and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Rescue crew frees swimmer from cliff
Big Island fire rescue crews helped a swimmer Wednesday who got stuck at the base of ocean-front cliffs near South Point.
The rescue team was called at 7:21 p.m. and found the swimmer stranded between the ocean and a 30-foot cliff. The swimmer was exhausted and could neither swim out nor climb out, according to a Hawaii County Fire Department news release.
Two firefighters climbed down a cliff, traversed about 100 yards of shoreline and swam 50 yards to reach the swimmer, then backtracked and helped the swimmer out.
WINDWARD OAHU
Duo recaptured after escaping
Kaneohe police captured two boys yesterday who escaped from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.
At about 2:35 p.m. the boys fled on foot up the mountain ridge line toward the rear of the Women's Community Correctional Center on Kalanianaole Highway in Kailua.
A police helicopter spotted the boys about 150 yards from Akipola and Akiahala streets.
Police arrested them at about 5 p.m. on suspicion of second-degree escape.
Star-Bulletin staff
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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Slaying suspect charged in assault
Adam Mau, charged with killing three people on Tantalus in 2006, appeared in Circuit Court yesterday to answer to charges that he assaulted a prison guard at Oahu Community Correctional Center and tried to poke his eye out with a pen.
Because another state judge has declared him unfit to stand trial in the murders, Circuit Judge Derrick Chan entered not-guilty pleas on Mau's behalf at his arraignment for one count of first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault.
He was transported to court yesterday from Hawaii State Hospital.
Mau is accused of fatally shooting cabdriver Manh The Nguyen and Jason and Colleen Takamori at Tantalus lookout on July 6, 2006.
Fatal crash brings homicide rap
A 20-year-old man charged with negligent homicide in the traffic deaths of two Waialua High School classmates as they were about to graduate two years ago pleaded not guilty yesterday in Circuit Court.
Circuit Judge Derrick Chan scheduled trial for Billy Lamug for the week of Aug. 4.
Lamug pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree negligent injury and two counts of second-degree negligent homicide. He remains free on $25,000 cash bail.
Lamug was behind the wheel of a subcompact car that went off Kaukonahua Road in the early morning hours of May 13, 2006, and flipped over. Shane Bachiller and Lanakila Vierra, both 18, died as a result of the crash. Vierra was thrown from the vehicle. A 16-year-old girl sustained injuries.
The parents of the two dead men are suing Lamug in state court.
Insurance firm sues in dam case
The insurer providing commercial liability coverage for Kilauea Irrigation Co. owner Thomas Hitch says it should not have to defend the company against lawsuits resulting from the 2006 Ka Loko Dam failure because that was not part of Hitch's policy.
Great Divide Insurance Co. filed a lawsuit yesterday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu to clear itself of liability, rescind the policy it issued Hitch and get back any money it has spent so far to defend him.
According to the lawsuit, Hitch's policy covers only hazards created by excavation, installing and maintaining septic tanks, constructing conduits for cables and wires, and making connections to water mains. Hitch's insurance application makes no mention of the company's responsibility for maintaining the Ka Loko Reservoir and Dam, which connects to Hitch's irrigation system, the lawsuit said.
Hitch is named as a defendant in six lawsuits filed on Kauai and one filed on Oahu over the March 14, 2006, dam failure. Other defendants are dam owner James Pflueger and the state. Trial for the Kauai lawsuits are scheduled for next year.
Floodwaters from the dam breach swept seven people to their deaths.
Wet sensors blamed in B-2 crash
The Air Force says the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in the sensors, which forced bad readings.
The moisture in three of the 24 sensors threw off the preflight data calibrations, which caused the flight-control computer to force the aircraft to raise its pitch 30 degrees on takeoff. That resulted in a stall and subsequent crash on Feb. 23.
The Spirit of Kansas plunged to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. It was en route to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The crash was the first since the planes' maiden flights nearly 20 years ago.
Both pilots ejected safely.
The Air Force grounded the B-2s but resumed flying them in late April.
LEEWARD OAHU
Crash in Ewa kills motorcyclist
A 27-year-old Ewa Beach man died last night after his motorcycle broadsided a car in Ewa.
About 10:15 p.m., the victim was riding his 2006 Yamaha R1 motorcycle at a high rate of speed makai on Keaunui Drive, toward the Noelo Street intersection, police said.
As he approached the intersection, a 2003 Mitsubishi Gallant carrying five teenagers pulled out of Noelo Street to turn left, police said. The motorcycle broadsided the four-door sedan, and the rider became wedged beneath the car.
He was pronounced dead at the scene at 11 p.m., said Emergency Services Division spokesman Bryan Cheplic.
The sedan's front-seat passenger, an 17-year-old Ewa girl, suffered minor head injuries and was taken to the Hawaii Medical Center West in guarded condition.
The sedan's other occupants, including its 18-year-old female driver, two girls ages 16 and 17 and boy whose age was not disclosed, were taken to the hospital for examination, but were not injured.
Police said speed was a factor on part of the motorcyclist, and it is unknown whether drugs or alcohol were factors. The victim also was not wearing a helmet.
The man's identity was not released this morning. This is the 19th traffic fatality of the year, compared with 35 at this time last year.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Rescue crew frees swimmer from cliff
Big Island fire rescue crews helped a swimmer Wednesday who got stuck at the base of ocean-front cliffs near South Point.
The rescue team was called at 7:21 p.m. and found the swimmer stranded between the ocean and a 30-foot cliff. The swimmer was exhausted and could neither swim out nor climb out, according to a Hawaii County Fire Department news release.
Two firefighters climbed down a cliff, traversed about 100 yards of shoreline and swam 50 yards to reach the swimmer, then backtracked and helped the swimmer out.
WINDWARD OAHU
Duo recaptured after escaping
Kaneohe police captured two boys yesterday who escaped from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.
At about 2:35 p.m., the boys fled on foot up the mountain ridge line toward the rear of the Women's Community Correctional Center on Kalanianaole Highway in Kailua.
A police helicopter spotted the boys about 150 yards from Akipola and Akiahala streets.
Police arrested them at about 5 p.m. on suspicion of second-degree escape.