Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Realty VP is arrested in Harris investigation
Honolulu police made another arrest yesterday as part of their investigation into Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign.HPD booked local real estate executive Edward Suzuki on suspicion of money laundering and making a campaign donation under a false name.
The 64-year-old Suzuki, a vice president of GO Realty Inc., was not charged and was released pending investigation.
State campaign spending records show that Suzuki has contributed $2,500 to the Harris campaign since 1997.
Suzuki is the latest of more than a dozen political donors to be arrested by Honolulu police in their investigation into the Harris campaign.
FBI seeks investment fraud victims on Maui
The FBI is trying to locate victims of an alleged investment fraud based out of Maui.Special Agent Arnold Laanui said that Maui resident John L. Cerizo has represented himself as an investment broker and has taken funds through his companies, CT International and Cornerstone Overseas Ltd.
Laanui said that officials are investigating whether Cerizo is a licensed broker and whether his companies are legitimate businesses.
Cerizo's businesses are based in Wailuku and Kahului, leading officials to believe that many victims live on Maui, Laanui said. Officials have found a few victims, but they believe there are at least 75-100 more, he said.
Anyone who may have lost money through dealings with Cerizo, CT International or Cornerstone Overseas Ltd. can contact the FBI at 566-4300.
Hot line up for citizens to report drug activity
The state has created a Drug Nuisance Abatement Unit that establishes hot lines for residents to call the state attorney general's office to report suspicious drug activity in their neighborhoods.The state Legislature authorized the program in the last session to deal with the state's crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," problem. A unit within the attorney general's office was established with two full-time employees -- a deputy attorney general and an investigator -- who will target property owners who have ignored resident complaints of drug-related activity.
"I expect that this new program will allow people who feared reprisal from drug dealers to more freely report criminal behavior in their neighborhoods," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, McCully-Moiliili).
The hot line numbers are 586-1328 for Oahu residents and 800-9NO-METH or 800-966-6384 for neighbor island residents, a toll-free call. Residents can also fax the unit at 586-1371.
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
>> The Waipahu Community Foundation has awarded quarterly grants of $4,500 to Waipahu 21st Century Community Learning Centers (August Ahrens Elementary School); $4,203 to Gentry-Waipio, Crestview, Seaview Friends of Youth; $1,600 to Leeward YMCA; $2,256 to Waipahu Youth Baseball; and $1,715 to the Boy Scouts.
Annual awards were given to Waipahu High ($24,500); Village Park Athletic Association ($5,000); Leeward YMCA ($5,000); Waipahu Jackrabbits ($5,000); and Friends of Waipahu Cultural Garden Park ($5,450).
Grant applications for the next quarter (October-December) are due Sept. 5. Call Executive Director Cal Kawamoto at 677-9466 or 306-2381 for information.
>> Parents and Children Together has received $40,000 from the Hawaii Children's Trust Fund, to help children with speech therapy needs in the Early Head Start/Head Start Program; and $15,000 from the Teresa F. Hughes Trust Estate to assist special needs children attending Oahu Healthy Start programs.
>> The Bank of Hawaii Charitable Foundation has awarded $10,000 to the Kona Hospital Foundation's first "Campaign for Renewal" to create a Radiation Therapy Unit, support nuclear medicine in the new Imaging Center, and renovate the emergency room.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWINDWARD OAHU
Rescue crews retrieved a body believed to be that of 45-year-old Phillip Milos from the Crouching Lion Trail in Kahana Valley yesterday.
Hiker's body retrieved from Kahana ValleyFire officials said the body was airlifted out of the valley and taken to Kahana State Park about 10:20 a.m.
Earlier attempts to rappel down the 1,650-foot cliffside were hampered by cloud cover and strong winds, officials said.
Rescue crews found the body 1 1/2 miles into the trail, pinned between a tree and the cliffside on Thursday afternoon.
The body was 80-100 feet below the trail, officials said.
The medical examiner is determining the cause of death.
The two-day search for Milos began Tuesday after two hikers found his backpack along the trail.
Milos was last seen at his Kapiolani Boulevard residence Aug. 15 by neighbors, police said.
CENTRAL OAHU
A Wahiawa man was critically injured when he crashed his moped into a street pole in Whitmore Village on Thursday night.
Wahiawa man, 19, is hurt in moped crashPolice said the 19-year-old man was driving the moped on Kulia Street when he tried to veer left onto Ualanikoo Street about 7:20 p.m.
The moped struck a street pole on the northwest corner of the intersection, and the man was thrown onto the sidewalk, police said.
The man, who was not wearing a helmet, was taken by helicopter to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition with fractures to his skull and left arm.
HONOLULU
Police are looking for two witnesses to a robbery in Kalihi on Tuesday.
Police seek 2 witnesses to purse snatchingPolice said a female victim in her 40s was walking on North King Street near Gulick Avenue when a man ran up from behind and grabbed her handbag. The suspect fled mauka on Gulick Avenue, police said.
Police said a male pedestrian tried to stop the suspect but was pushed away. A second male, who was driving a white van, followed the suspect to Kalihi Waena Elementary School, police said.
Both witnesses left before police arrived.
Anyone with information on this case can call Detective Taro Nakamura at 529-3382 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
