Man who set car ablaze found fit to stand trial
A 50-year-old Honolulu man who set his Mercedes-Benz on fire in November at Bishop and King streets and then allegedly sprayed paint and fire extinguishers in and out of Bank of Hawaii was found to be fit for trial yesterday.Three court-appointed mental health experts found Richard G. Elstner competent to stand trial on charges of first-degree reckless endangering third-degree assault and criminal property damage.
Since 1999, Elstner has been involved with legal disputes with Bank of Hawaii stemming from the administration of a $2.7 million estate left to his family when his father died.
Trial is set for May 28.
Sick juror delays trial for mom who took kids
WAILUKU >> A sick juror has delayed deliberations in the trial of a woman who took her two daughters to Central America to flee an ex-husband she claims sexually abused her children.Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza scheduled jury deliberations to resume Friday morning for Mary Lou French, who is charged with two counts of custodial interference.
Cardoza said the female juror who was in a hospital was unable to be in court yesterday to resume deliberations but was expected to return to court Friday.
French, who had joint custody of the children with her husband James French, fled Hawaii in January 1999 and was arrested in Panama with her two adopted daughters from China in April 2000.
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>> The state epidemiologist who spoke about the 119th case of dengue fever in Hawaii is Dr. Paul Effler. His first name was incorrect in a Page A4 story in yesterday's morning edition. Corrections and clarifications
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Managing Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHONOLULU Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Suspect arrested after hitting cop with moped
A police officer suffered a compound leg fracture after a 22-year-old Punchbowl man allegedly ran over the officer with a stolen moped.Police said a solo bike officer was pursuing the suspect through Palolo about 10 p.m. when the suspect turned onto Ahe Street.
The male officer, who was working from an HPD satellite office on Ahe Street, stepped in front of the suspect to get him to stop.
Police said the suspect ran over the officer then lost control of the moped crashing it into a parked car.
The man then ran into a nearby Palolo Housing apartment and threatened two boys, ages 16 and 13, police said.
Officers checking the area found the suspect and chased him into Anuenue School on 10th Avenue, where they apprehended him.
The man was arrested for first-degree attempted murder, unauthorized control of the moped, two counts of kidnapping, burglary, resisting arrest, drug promotion and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The 32-year-old officer was taken to Queen's Medical Center for surgery.
Fractured skull suspected in Ala Moana Park death
Honolulu police are investigating the murder of a man whose body was found at Ala Moana Beach Park yesterday morning.Police said park workers spotted the victim about 6:15 a.m.
However, they thought he was sleeping and didn't discover he was dead until they approached the body several hours later to try to wake the man.
Police said the victim may have had a fractured skull and was last seen alive about 10:30 the night before.
The victim is described as between his late 20s and mid-30s and was found wearing black surf shorts, a black T-shirt and slippers.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office is expected to release the victim's cause of death today.
Anyone with any information or who may have seen the victim between 10:30 p.m. Monday and 6:15 a.m. yesterday is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *Crime on a cellular phone.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Male driver dies after van goes airborne in Kona
A 37-year-old Kailua-Kona man died Monday after crashing his van in a one-vehicle accident on a steep North Kona roadway.Police said the man, identified as Brian Underwood, was traveling downhill on Ahikawa Street in the Kona Coast View Subdivision just before 8:30 p.m. when his van ran onto the right shoulder of the roadway and blew a tire.
Underwood then crossed over to the left side of the roadway where his car hit two parked cars and uprooted palm trees in the front yards of several homes, police said.
The van then went airborne, overturned and landed in the yard of another home, police said.
Underwood was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital at 1 a.m. yesterday.
Police said they believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Truck kills motorist who lost a wheel on the road
A 43-year-old man died yesterday after he was hit by a truck while retrieving items that had fallen off his vehicle onto the roadway in Keaau.Police have identified the man as Jay Okubo of Hilo.
Police said Okubo was going south on Route 130 near the Keaau Refuse Transfer Station about 3:30 a.m. when the right front wheel of his car fell off.
He retrieved the wheel, put it into the trunk of his car and was picking up the lug nuts when he was hit by a pickup truck traveling north, police said.
Okubo was pronounced dead three hours later at Hilo Medical Center.
The driver of the pickup truck, Lawrence Shupe, 40, of Hawaiian Paradise Park, was not injured.
Police closed all four lanes of the highway and routed traffic through a nearby subdivision for four hours as they investigated the accident.
This is the Big Island's 13th traffic death of the year compared to six at this time last year.
