Newswatch

Police, Fire, Courts

Star-Bulletin staff and wire

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State libraries offer auto repair database

Car owners who would like to save money maintaining their vehicles can now use the Auto Repair Reference Center, a commercial electronic database, via the state public library system.

The center offers step-by-step procedures designed for those who do their own car repairs, but are comprehensive enough for professional technicians.

The database includes about 23,000 domestic and imported vehicles from 1954 to the present; more than 100,000 factory drawings and step-by-step photographs; technical service bulletins and recalls; wiring diagrams; specifications and maintenance schedules; a labor time guide and estimator; and Quick Tips, a complete guide to vehicle ownership and maintenance.

The information on the site is supplied by Nichols Publishing, publisher of Chilton Information.

The Auto Repair Reference Center is available at the library Web site, www.librarieshawaii.org.

Honolulu Zoo training interested lecturers

The Honolulu Zoo is offering a docent training class for people interested in learning more about animals and their habitats and sharing that knowledge with zoo visitors.

The seven-week course will be held 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting tomorrow. The class will feature guest speakers from the University of Hawaii's Tropical Agriculture and Animal Science departments.

Contact Barb Thacker, Honolulu Zoo Society volunteer coordinator, at 926-3191, ext. 11, or send an e-mail to bthacker@honzoosoc.org.

Filipino group to hold banquet next month

The Honolulu Filipino Junior Chamber of Commerce will kick off a year of activities with its sixth annual Award and Installation Banquet on Feb. 28.

The chapter's mission theme is "History in the Making" this year.

The banquet will be 6 to 11 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Hotel. A scholarship worth $1,000 to $2,000 will be awarded to a high school senior pursuing a college education. Applicants had to write an essay on how their education would contribute to the Filipino community.

Other activities for the year include a parade, the Fil-Am Olympic Games, a basketball tournament, a charity musical extravaganza, a job fair, a voter registration drive and an L&L Goodwill Christmas party, along with monthly socials.

For more information, visit www.hfjcc.org or e-mail info@hfjcc.org.

Donations may be sent to HFJCC, c/o Hawaii Jaycees, P.O. Box 23206, Honolulu 96823.

Seagull Schools gets $175,000

Two foundations provided a total of $175,000 in grants for Seagull Schools' plans for two West Oahu childcare centers.

"Because of rapidly expanding population and job growth, we are targeting Ewa Beach and Ko Olina, where land valued at over $2 million was donated, as the best sites to construct two new childcare centers," said director Chuck Larson.

The James and Abigail Campbell Foundation contributed $100,000 while the Bank of Hawaii Charitable Foundation contributed $75,000 to a $4.9 million campaign. The sites, to be completed in 2005, will provide care for 360 children ages 2 to 5.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Autopsy reveals Maui woman died by gunshot to head

Twenty-seven-year-old Lisa K. Tomita, shot Friday by Maui police, died from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to a preliminary autopsy report.

Toxicology results are pending.

Tomita, also known as Lisa Kaina and Lisa K. Naeole, was fatally shot by police in Paia Friday while she was driving an allegedly stolen car. Maui police said she refused to stop the white 2004 Cadillac and tried to reverse the car into an officer. Her family members contend Tomita's car was blocked from moving and that she had her hands in the air.

Tomita was on probation and had a criminal history of felony, misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor arrests involving drugs and auto theft.

Detectives from the Maui Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division are continuing their investigation.

HONOLULU

3 Kalihi teen arrested for threats with knives

Police arrested three Kalihi teenagers out of a group of 15 men and boys who allegedly threatened three men with knives in a bar parking lot at 508 Waiakamilo Road early yesterday morning.

Police said both groups had been drinking heavily when members of the larger group pulled out knives and threatened the three men. One man from the group struck another in the head with a beer bottle, according to police.

Bouncers tried to break up the fight, but were threatened by a male with a handgun.

Members of the large group fled in three vehicles, police said. But a patrol officer caught three of the suspects when he stopped one of the vehicles for a traffic violation.

Police arrested the three Kalihi teenagers, ages 16, 17 and 19, for first-degree terroristic threatening, third-degree assault and second-degree assault. The suspects were released pending investigation.

Man held for alleged sex assault of girl, 13

Police arrested a 35-year-old Salt Lake man yesterday for suspicion of sexually assaulting and kidnapping a 13-year-old girl in Honolulu in the summer of 2002.

Police said the suspect, who was an acquaintance of the girl, allegedly sexually assaulted her between May 1-Aug. 31, 2002.

The suspect was arrested at 8:10 p.m. yesterday on three counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of kidnapping, police said.

Possible infant assault is under investigation

Police said they are investigating a case of possible first-degree assault after test results showed a 3-month-old infant had signs of shaken baby syndrome.

A 26-year-old man and 24-year-old woman from Aliamanu brought the baby to Kapiolani Women's and Children's Hospital Friday morning after the baby boy experienced seizures and was unresponsive, police said. The baby was in critical condition.

LEEWARD OAHU
Shooting suspect, 21, to be transferred today

A 21-year-old Aiea man who allegedly fired a sawed-off shotgun at an off-duty police officer in a Kapolei bar was expected to be transferred today to the federal detention center from the main police station to be investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The man was arrested for second-degree attempted murder and firearm offenses soon after the shooting at the T-Spot Hideaway Cigar and Lounge in the Kapolei Marketplace about 11:24 p.m. Friday.

Police are looking for another suspect, in his late 30s, who was also involved in the shooting.

Police said the 21-year-old man started a fight with the officer and another man because he thought the officer was someone he had fought with in the bar earlier that night.

The second suspect got a shotgun from his vehicle. Police said the 21-year-old man grabbed the weapon and fired about three shots at the officer. No one was injured during the shooting.

Man allegedly drives car at police officer

A 29-year-old man was arrested yesterday after he allegedly drove his vehicle at a police officer in Waipahu.

Police said the suspect drove his vehicle through a road closure and into a work site at the intersection of Waipahu and Hianakiu streets after being waved off by a police officer about 8:30 a.m. Another officer stopped the vehicle and started to approach the driver when the suspect accelerated his vehicle toward him, forcing the officer to jump out of the way.

Police said the man later stopped and got out of his vehicle after a slow pursuit. He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder.

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Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers