Program offers free battery disposal
Need to get rid of an old car or motorcycle battery? You can't just toss them, because state law prohibits the disposal of lead acid batteries. The lead, lead compounds and acid in them are harmful to people and the environment.Through June 30, you can have your old automotive batteries picked up by the Salvation Army as part of its donation collections.
The state Department of Health is working with the Salvation Army's Honolulu Adult Rehabilitation Center, NAPA dealers and the Exide Battery Corporation.
Battery pick-ups are limited to households (no businesses) and batteries must be in good condition. Once collected, they will be taken to the Exide Corporation for recycling.
To make an appointment for pick-up, please call the Salvation Army at 522-8472. For information on other disposal options, call the Department of Health at 586-4240.
[THE COURTS] Former attorney heading for jail must repay victims
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins sentenced former attorney Mark Cusmano yesterday to five years probation and one year in jail and ordered him to pay a total of $165,500 in restitution to 15 victims.Cusmano was convicted of forging his clients' signatures, between December 1998 and July 1999, to take settlement checks. His attorney, Howard Luke, said Cusmano used the money to keep his practice going and pay debts.
Deputy prosecutor Randal Lee had asked for a 10-year term, saying Cusmano violated his clients' trust. But Perkins said Cusmano cannot pay restitution "when he is prison for 10 years."
Man avoids murder rap by pleading to lesser charge
Keala Leong has pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in a case where an army helicopter pilot was shot to death at the Waianae Recreation Center.Leong, 21, was facing retrial when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for the government dropping a felony murder charge.
John Latchum died from a gunshot wound to chest on June 3, 1998. Bryson Jose, 22, and Roberto Miguel, 19, have already been convicted of felony murder. They face life in prison. Leong faces 10 years when he is sentenced this year.
[ CORRECTIONS ] The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Publisher and Editor in Chief John Flanagan at 529-4748 or email him at jflanagan@starbulletin.com.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Tourist dragged when suspects snatch purse
Honolulu police are looking for two men who dragged a woman about 30 feet during a purse-snatching robbery yesterday in Haleiwa.At around 12:45 p.m. a 45-year-old Japanese tourist was placing packages in the trunk of her rental vehicle at the North Shore Market Place, 66-250 Kamehameha Highway, police said. A dark Honda Accord four-door sedan drove up and the passenger grabbed her handbag through the window. The woman was dragged until she was able to release her bag.
The suspects' vehicle sped off on Kamehameha Highway toward Waialua.
The purse snatcher is described as a man in his early 20s, with short blond spiked hair, clean shaven, wearing sunglasses. The car's license plate number ends in "572."
Anyone with information about this case may contact the investigator at 529-3382 or call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Police want help solving woman's disappearance
KAILUA-KONA >> Police are renewing their request for public assistance with the 1998 disappearance of Michelle Gloria Adam, then 36, of Milolii Beach Lots, South Kona. The case is classified as homicide.Adam's husband, Richard, reported her missing June 17, 1998 and told police he last saw her on June 13.
Her car was found at a second home owned by the couple.
Richard Adam now lives in Lancaster, N.H. He had a history of difficulty with his neighbors, who accused him of destroying Hawaiian archaeological sites at Beach Lots.
A county investigation confirmed someone destroyed sites there.
Richard Adam's Beach Lots house was destroyed by a fire of a suspicious nature in October 1998.
Inmate escapes from Maui Correctional
WAILUKU >> An inmate escaped from Maui Community Correctional Center. Prison warden Albert Murashige said Gerald Villanueva was found missing at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday.Prison officers found a dummy under the blanket in his bed. Murashige said Villanueva apparently climbed over the fence. He said an investigation is underway to determine how and when he escaped. "We don't know the exact time," Murashige said.
Murashige said Villanueva, 42, was serving 20 years for multiple felonies, including robbery and forgery. His tentative parole date was May, 2001, he said.
Villanueva is described as 5'10 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with black hair, and wears a tattoo on the back of his left hand that says, "Love A.P."
