Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Officer on call when pedestrian was killed
KAILUA-KONA >> Big Island police said a Kona officer was driving to a reported disturbance at Keauhou pier when he struck and killed a pedestrian early Sunday.Officer Bryan Ellis was the lead vehicle among several units responding to the call when the fatal accident occurred at 1:27 a.m., according to information released yesterday by the police department's Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Earlier, police said Ellis was on a "non-urgent" assignment.
According to the preliminary investigation, Ellis was driving south on Alii Drive when his sport utility vehicle struck Gregory Pluta, 33, about 2.5 miles north of Royal Poinciana Drive. Police had earlier said the site was at the 2.5 mile marker, a half-mile north of Royal Poinciana.
Pluta, wearing a white shirt with blue pinstripes and blue jeans, was taken to the Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:34 a.m.
An autopsy was ordered to determine the exact cause of death. An internal administrative investigation is also being conducted into the case.
Schofield soldier's memorial set for today
Private memorial services were to be held today at Schofield Barracks for Spc. Jason Bordwell, who was killed early Friday morning on the H-1 Freeway.Bordwell was the driver of one of two cars that crashed into a flatbed truck.
Bordwell's passenger was pulled to safety.
Also killed was Sgt. Shanta Bridges, 26, of McComb, Miss., an infantryman assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment. Private memorial services for Bridges will be held Friday at Schofield.
Bordwell, 22, of Schenectady, N.Y., was assigned as a computer analyst to Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 125th Signal Battalion.
The Army hasn't released the identity of the fourth soldier who was killed, pending notification of family members.
Mariano Salangdron Sr., a Safety Systems Hawaii worker, was also killed. He was riding in the truck when the first of two vehicles slammed into it.
Home Lands in market to buy subdivisions
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is looking to purchase single-family subdivisions from private developers and landowners.Micah Kane, the department's chairman, said the move stems from the agency's strategic plan, which calls for providing every qualified native Hawaiian beneficiary on the waiting list an opportunity for home ownership or land stewardship. The department said it will issue a request for proposals this week.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Indiana woman, 72, dies in car crash on Kauai
LIHUE >> A 72-year-old Indiana woman was killed yesterday afternoon in Wailua when she was thrown from a car involved in a two-car collision and then hit by a third vehicle.Kauai police said Joan Grissom, 72, was a passenger in a northbound car driven by a 47-year-old Koloa man, who was making a left turn from Kuhio Highway into the Wailua Golf Course.
The man's car was hit by a southbound car driven by an 18-year-old Anahola woman. Grissom was ejected in the crash and then hit by a northbound car driven by a 22-year-old Hanalei man. Grissom was declared dead at the scene.
Both drivers of the cars that collided and a second passenger in the Koloa man's car were taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition yesterday. The driver and passenger of the car that hit Grissom were not hurt.
The accident occurred across from the entrance to the Kauai Community Correctional Center where another fatal accident took place last week.
Yesterday's accident marks Kauai's fifth traffic fatality of 2004, compared with a total of five traffic fatalities in all of 2003. Since Feb. 10, there have been 17 traffic fatalities statewide, with nine on Oahu, five on the Big Island, two on Kauai and one on Maui.
13 people arrested in 2 Big Isle drug busts
Big Island police and federal agents made drug busts at two Puna homes Friday, arresting 13 people.Officers served a warrant on a Weston Way house in the Ainaloa subdivision of Puna and arrested 11 people on 25 drug charges. They recovered 20.9 grams of ice, drug paraphernalia and $175 in cash.
Gilbert Desa Jr., 45, of Ainaloa; Theodore Bonilla, 26, of Hawaiian Paradise Park; Kapeka Grover, 19, of Honomu; Virginia Silva, 40, of Keaau; and Cherise King, 23 of Kaieie, were charged with drug-related offenses, including promoting dangerous drugs and detrimental drugs, and illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
The five were being held at the Hilo police cellblock, and the other suspects were released pending investigation.
Officers also arrested two people at a Coral Drive address after serving a second warrant. Rainie Taniguchi, 39, and James Ahsam, 39, were charged with promoting dangerous drugs and detrimental drugs, and illegal possession of drug paraphernalia. Taniguchi is being held, while Ahsam was released on his own recognizance.
WAIKIKI
Hotel evacuated after report of gas leak
A gas leak forced the evacuation of the Imperial of Waikiki Hotel on Monday night.Firefighters were called to the hotel at 205 Lewers St. at 8:25 p.m. after a resident in unit 408 told a manager that she smelled gas. All occupants of the 27-floor, 250-unit building were evacuated as firefighters shut off the gas.
Police shut down Lewers Street from Kalakaua Avenue to Kalia Road while an HFD hazardous materials team tested air samples. Occupants were allowed to return to the hotel sometime before 10 p.m.
HONOLULU
Man arrested after ex-girlfriend gets threat
Police arrested a 33-year-old Makaha man Monday after he allegedly threatened his former girlfriend, 33, with a knife.The man tracked down the woman at her aunt's house in Kaimuki and held a knife to her throat about 9:58 p.m., police said.
The suspect tried to get the woman to go with him to a cemetery, police said. Police were called, and the suspect was found and arrested at 10:45 p.m. for first-degree terroristic threatening.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
