Newswatch
WATER MAIN BREAKS
AT RYCROFT STREET
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Repairmen fixed a water main break yesterday on Rycroft Street near Alder Street. Board of Water Supply officials said the break happened at 2:24 a.m. and shut down service for six homes and 12 apartment units. Water was restored at 6 a.m.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Maui man dies in highway car crash
WAILUKU >> A man died early yesterday morning when the car he was driving went out of control and hit a guardrail in west Maui, police said.Inoke Mataele, 20, of Wailuku was pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Police traffic investigator Duke Pua said Mataele was traveling toward Kapalua on Honoapiilani Highway just north of Honokowai when he hit the guardrail about 1:25 a.m. Mataele was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, Pua said.
The death is the 14th traffic fatality on Maui this year, compared with 18 at this time last year.
Police investigators are still looking at whether drugs, speed or alcohol may have contributed to the crash.
Officials identify man who drowned off Maui
LAHAINA >> The Valley Isle man who died after being swept off a fishing area near Honolua Bay in west Maui has been identified as Cesar Moreno.Moreno, 26, a Napili resident who worked at the Westin Maui in Kaanapali, was fishing with a friend when a large wave swept him into the ocean Monday afternoon at Lipoa Point, near a place known by some residents as "Hobbit Land."
A friend fishing with him said a wave pushed Moreno into the rocks and he disappeared in the surf, fire officials said.
His body was found underwater by county water safety officers and retrieved by a fire department helicopter at about 5:25 p.m. Monday.
Maui police seek signs of missing surfer
LAHAINA >> Maui police are looking for a missing surfer's 9-foot-long white surfboard that may have washed up on shore near Front Street in Lahaina.Police conducted a water and air search of the Lahaina coastline yesterday for Todd M. Ripplinger of Kihei, who has been missing since he left work at Media Systems Inc. in Lahaina at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.
His car was found by a friend Monday in the parking lot fronting a canoe hale near 505 Front St.
Friends said Ripplinger, 28, was a novice surfer, and the faces of waves in Lahaina Thursday were more than 10 feet high.
HONOLULU
Alleged purse thief caught by victim
A 30-year-old Honolulu woman caught another woman who allegedly stole her purse at Ala Moana Center Monday.Police said the victim was in the restroom at the street level near Center Stage when a 44-year-old Waipahu woman took her purse. The suspect fled the restroom, but the victim ran after her, police said.
The victim caught the alleged purse snatcher and held her until police arrived. The suspect was arrested for investigation of second-degree theft.
Roosevelt student arrested for fake cash
Police arrested a 16-year-old Roosevelt High School student after he allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $5 bill to buy lunch at the school cafeteria Monday.The teen was arrested for first-degree forgery at about 12:25 p.m. He was released pending investigation.
LEEWARD OAHU
Waianae pair arrested for alleged abuse
Police arrested a Waianae couple yesterday morning after they allegedly abused each other.Police said the 36-year-old Waianae man hit the woman with a piece of lumber and broke her wrist about 9 p.m. Saturday in front of their Koahi Street home.
At about 1 a.m. yesterday police were summoned to the home by the man's 33-year-old girlfriend.
Police arrested the man for second-degree assault in the Saturday incident and also arrested the woman for abuse of a household member in yesterday's incident.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
