Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin Staff
100th Battalion party at Ala Moana Hotel
Former state Sen. Matt Matsunaga will be the keynote speaker Sunday at the 61st anniversary of the formation of the 100th Battalion at the Ala Moana Hotel.Matsunaga's father, the late U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga, was a member of the 100th Battalion.
Shizuya Hayashi, one of the two living Medal of Honor recipients from the 100th Battalion, is expected to attend along with the state's leading Army officers.
The 100th was the first Army unit comprised of Japanese Americans and together with the 442nd Regimental Combat team became one of the most decorated units of World War II.
National meth summit will be held in Kona
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said he and Big Island Mayor Harry Kim will convene the fifth annual National Crystal Meth Summit in Kona in August to chart progress and unveil new initiatives using government dollars to combat the "ice" epidemic.He said he expects that $5 million in federal funds will be appropriated for Hawaii.
Last year, about 375 people attended the summit. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which hosted the summit at Inouye's request, had to turn away 100 people.
Inouye said he was impressed by the efforts on the Big Island and Kauai and in the communities of Mililani and Haleiwa on Oahu to hold rallies and wave signs.
Taking responsibility is the first step, the Hawaii Democrat said. Enforcement, rehabilitation, outreach education and prevention must now follow, he said.
Grand-theft guilty plea for concert con man
SAN DIEGO >> A 25-year-old man arrested in Hawaii after being accused of selling tickets to a nonexistent concert by Icelandic singer Bjork pleaded guilty Monday to grand theft.Aleso Conate is likely to receive probation and credit for time served when he is sentenced July 22.
Conate will be turned over to authorities from San Luis Obispo, where he was wanted on a warrant for violating probation and an elder abuse conviction, officials said.
During a preliminary hearing in April, police Detective James Borg testified that Conate had duped the manager of a small San Diego nightclub into believing that Bjork had agreed to perform there on Jan. 15.
He allegedly sold at least $9,000 worth of bogus tickets at $40 each before fleeing to Hawaii. Conate was arrested in late January in Honolulu after authorities learned he spent about $1,900 tipping female dancers in an adult club.
A representative of Bjork said the singer never planned to perform in San Diego.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man wanted for allegedly shooting rifle at vehicle
Big Island police want help finding a 40-year-old Kona man wanted for allegedly firing a rifle at a vehicle in Holualoa, North Kona.
Police said Guy Thomas Rivera, of Holualoa, fired two shots at a vehicle on June 19. He is also wanted on an outstanding warrant for contempt.
The suspect, also known as "Pake," is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 200 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a black mustache. Police said he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Juergen Canda at 326-4230, the police nonemergency number at 935-3311 or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
NORTH SHORE
Waialua man arrested after stabbing incident
Police have arrested a Waialua man for allegedly stabbing another man with a beer bottle and then stealing a car on April 15.Police said the victim, also from Waialua, was at Haleiwa Alii Beach Park when he got into an argument with an acquaintance. Police said the suspect was parked nearby and, along with another man, got out of the car and confronted the victim.
Police said the suspect punched the victim in the left eye, causing him to fall to his knees. The suspect then shattered a beer bottle and used it to strike the victim's left eye, police said.
The suspect fled the scene in a car he stole from a witness, police said. Police arrested the suspect yesterday under suspicion of auto theft and second-degree assault.
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[The Courts]
Hawaii Supreme Court suspends attorney
The Hawaii Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended Hawaii-licensed attorney Nikolai Tehin Jr. from practicing law here, effective last Tuesday.Tehin's suspension was based on the California State Bar Court's order that he be suspended there based on multiple allegations of ethical violations, including misappropriating millions of dollars in client funds.
The Hawaii Supreme Court publicly censured Tehin, 56, last year after he was publicly reproved in California for three violations involving money, said Carole Richelieu, chief disciplinary counsel of the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel.
Tehin failed to properly supervise a bookkeeper and his associate and withdrew funds from a client trust account when it was not clear he was entitled to it, Richelieu said. The California State Bar Court took the next step of suspending him when it uncovered additional violations.
California has yet to complete its investigation into the new violations, so it's not over yet for Tehin, Richelieu said. Meanwhile, "He can't practice here and in California -- so the public's protected," she said.
The California Superior Court has since taken over Tehin's law practice, and his firm's certification as a law corporation was revoked.
Tehin, a graduate of the Hastings College of Law, was admitted to the Hawaii bar in December 1981. He could not be reached for comment.
Guilty plea deferred in utility service theft
A former Honolulu Board of Water Supply claims investigator was granted a deferral of his guilty plea to a theft of utilities service charge for bypassing an electric meter.If he stays out of further trouble for five years, George Williams Jr., 58, of Mililani, will have a chance to wipe the conviction from his record.
Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto also fined Williams $2,800 on Tuesday in addition to $41,000 he has already repaid Hawaiian Electric Co.
Williams, who previously served 17 years as a Honolulu police officer but was forced to retire from the department because of serious injuries sustained while arresting an auto theft suspect, apologized for his conduct, saying he did not realize at the time the seriousness of his actions and how it adversely affected his family and friends.
In lieu of community service, Sakamoto suggested Williams continue his coaching and working with delinquent youth as he has done for the past 25 years.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
