Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
RALLY SLAMS BUSH ON DEFENSE
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Federal workers protesting President Bush's Department of Defense plans joined yesterday in a rally sponsored by the Hawaii Coalition of Federal Defense Unions, in front of the Prince Kuhio Federal Building. The unions contend the new National Security Personnel System will impair the rights of federal workers. Richard Quintanilla was among those who voiced his feelings during the rally.
Challenger emerges to Kawamoto's seat
Clarence Nishihara, 61, a former school vice principal, will run against Sen. Cal Kawamoto (D, Waipahu) in the fall primary election.Nishihara, who filed for the Senate seat yesterday, is basing his campaign on a comparison with Kawamoto, who is under investigation by the state Campaign Spending Commission.
Saying the news about Kawamoto investigations is casting a "negative light" on the people in Waipahu, Nishihara said he wants to make "integrity and a promise to clean up government" a part of his campaign.
In response, Kawamoto said yesterday he planned to file for re-election and would run on his record in the Waipahu community.
Nishihara is a retired vice principal at August Ahrens Elementary School and is now a part-time parent community outreach coordinator with Kalakaua Middle School.
Deaths of Maui birds avoidable, official says
SPRECKELSVILLE, Maui >> State Land Board Chairman Peter Young has decried the deaths of 15 protected Hawaiian seabirds in a nesting colony at Baldwin Beach in Central Maui.The adult shearwater birds, or ua'u kani, were killed Tuesday by a loose dog.
Young said the incident was "preventable" and that pet owners need to be responsible for their animals.
He said state conservation officials are investigating the incident and will also be monitoring the beaches for unleashed dogs.
The ua'u kani clean out their burrows in sand dunes in the springtime and sometimes make sounds that draw the attention of dogs and cats, state officials said.
Neighborhood residents reported the deaths to state officials.
The ua'u kani is the "aku bird" of the fisherman and an indigenous Hawaiian bird, protected by state and federal laws under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
WWII victims' remains to arrive in isles today
Remains believed to be those of seven crew members of a World War II C-47 transport that crashed during a supply run between India and Burma in 1943 will arrive at Hickam Air Force Base this morning.A recovery team from the joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recovered the remains during a 30-day mission in Burma.
The remains will be taken to the command's Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam where the forensic identification process will be done.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Maui police investigate pedestrian's death
Maui police are investigating the death Wednesday afternoon of a pedestrian struck by a car in Lahaina.Barbara Jean Hoffelt, a 74-year-old Chicago visitor, became the sixth traffic fatality on Maui this year, compared with three last year.
Hoffelt was struck by a sedan as she crossed Honoapiilani Highway at the intersection with Papalaua Street at 4:07 p.m.
Police traffic investigators were still determining yesterday if Hoffelt was in the crosswalk and whether drugs, alcohol or speed might have contributed to the incident.
Police investigate body found in Kapaa
LIHUE >> Kauai police detectives are investigating the death of a man whose body was found locked in a car Wednesday at a beach in Kapaa.An autopsy is scheduled.
Police did not release any other details.
Fired employee charged with murder
KAILUA-KONA >> Big Island police have charged Yasushi Kato, 28, a Japanese national living in West Hawaii, with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his former employer.The charge was filed yesterday for the Tuesday attack in which Yukichi Ito, 62, owner of the Hama Yu Japanese Restaurant in Waikoloa, was killed.
Ito had fired Kato on Monday, police said. Shortly before 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, Kato returned, got into an argument with Ito, then stabbed him several times, they said. He died at the scene.
Kato is being held without bail at the Kona police cellblock.
WINDWARD OAHU
Kaneohe man arrested for alleged sex abuse
Police arrested a 45-year-old Kaneohe man yesterday on six counts of incest for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter, now 19.The daughter reported her father sexually abused her for several years beginning when she was a minor.
WAIKIKI
HPD seeks suspect in sexual assault
Police are looking for a man in his 30s who sexually assaulted a 53-year-old woman Wednesday night in Waikiki.The woman told police she was walking home at 7:30 p.m. when she was accosted on the street by a man.
Police said the woman was dragged to a secluded area where she was sexually assaulted.
The suspect faces possible first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping charges.
HONOLULU
Police discover fugitive in hospital
Police found a 21-year-old fugitive in a hospital.Police confirmed Wednesday that Daniel Baldwin III, who escaped from Honolulu District Court on Monday, was in a hospital. However, police would not say when he was located or at which hospital.
Police said Baldwin is believed to have run into a Jamba Juice store and stolen a T-shirt.
Baldwin was in court Monday for an arraignment and plea in a misdemeanor assault case in Waikiki last weekend.
Police said Baldwin may be facing an escape charge.
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[Court Briefs]
Man in crash indicted on drug, arms charges
A 31-year-old man was indicted this week by a federal grand jury on firearm and drug possession charges stemming from a car crash that killed an elderly pedestrian on Diamond Head Road.Andres Paredes, who is being held without bail at the federal detention center, was charged with using a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, and being a user of illegal drugs and possessing a firearm and possessing eight rounds of shotgun ammunition.
The drugs and firearms were allegedly recovered from the car that he was driving when he struck 76-year-old Barbara Gallicchio March 12.
Police also seized four packets of crystal methamphetamine and other drugs.
Paredes, who is being held without bail, admitted to federal agents that he was both a drug trafficker and delivery person, that he habitually smoked "ice" and that he kept a shotgun in his car for protection, according to court documents.
Lawsuit filed over marijuana arrest
A man who claims he was wrongly arrested, prosecuted and convicted of growing marijuana is suing the city, the Honolulu Police Department and the investigator who obtained the warrant to search his home.In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Benjamin John Detroy alleges the defendants are liable for violating his civil and constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and false imprisonment, including malicious prosecution.
A police spokesman declined comment on the suit.
According to the suit, the search warrant was obtained based on an anonymous source who alleged Detroy was a marijuana user who was growing marijuana indoors. After an investigation, police obtained a search warrant that found marijuana plants, seedlings, sprouts and paraphernalia in Detroy's apartment.
In July the Hawaii Supreme Court threw out Detroy's conviction for promotion of marijuana and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
The high court found that the facts in the search warrant did not establish sufficient probable cause and that the search violated his constitutional rights.
Detroy is seeking damages to be determined at trial.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
