Neighbor dies after
fight over noise

Police arrest a sailor in a homicide
case at a Pearl City high-rise

Police arrested a 22-year-old Pearl Harbor petty officer earlier yesterday for allegedly beating his 46-year-old neighbor to death in a dispute over noise in their Pearl City apartment building.

Police said the two men got into a fistfight after the victim confronted his neighbor at 2:30 a.m. over loud noise coming from the neighbor's apartment.

The victim suffered severe trauma to the front and back of his head, said police homicide Lt. Bill Kato.

The Medical Examiner's Office reported the cause of death as blunt trauma but would not specify to what part of the body.

The victim was taken to Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, where he died, police said.

Police have opened a homicide investigation.

The fight took place in the Ocean Tower of the twin towers of Century Park Plaza, 1060 Kamehameha Highway, near Sam's Club.

Responding patrol officers arrested the 22-year-old suspect at his apartment after he admitted getting into a confrontation with his neighbor, police said.

The victim "was pounding on the adjoining bedroom wall to try and get the guy's attention to turn down the music or whatever the noise was," Kato said. "But as he did that, the people kept getting louder, louder and louder. So I guess that irritated him to the point that he went over there to confront them."

When the victim went out to confront him, the suspect came out of his apartment, and the two began fighting, Kato said.

The victim's daughter, between 10 and 13 years old, heard the fight in the hallway and called 911, Kato said.

"I think it was his concern over her not getting any sleep that caused him to go over there and stop them from making noise," Kato said. Police said the girl lived with her father and is now in the care of her mother's family.

Kato said that most of the neighbors slept through the commotion.

Building security guards were called, but by the time they arrived, the fight was over and they found the man lying in the hallway, police said. They also called for an ambulance and police.

John Morris, attorney for the Association of Apartment Owners of Century Park Plaza, said security guards received a complaint about loud music, but the caller failed to identify himself, his location or where the noise was coming from.

The suspect, who lives at the apartment with his girlfriend and a child, suffered minor injuries to his hands and was treated at St. Francis Medical Center-West.

A Navy spokesman said the suspect's home is listed as Bessamer, Ala. He joined the Navy three years ago and was transferred in March from the USS Reuben James to the Transient Personnel Unit of Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

In dealing with noisy neighbors, police recommend calling building security, if available, or police.