Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
School board hopeful Heftel breaks his hip
Cecil "Cec" Heftel, former congressman and a candidate for school board, broke his hip and is recovering at the Queen's Medical Center.Heftel said he tripped and fell at his home early Wednesday and checked in to the hospital. He was scheduled for surgery yesterday.
Heftel said the accident would not affect his campaign for a seat on the Board of Education. He is among 18 candidates who are vying for three Oahu at-large seats.
"I'll damn well be alive, but I'm not sure that I'll be kicking," he joked from his hospital bed.
Houston-bound flight returns as sparks fly
A Continental Airlines flight bound for Houston returned to Honolulu Airport on Wednesday night after sparks were seen coming from an overhead compartment.A Hawaii spokeswoman for Continental said Flight 72 returned shortly after takeoff at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. No injuries were reported.
Ruth Ann Becker of Becker Communications said sparks were coming from "an overhead compartment next to one of the lavatories."
The plane, a Boeing 767, is equipped to carry 256 people. Becker could not say how many passengers were aboard the flight.
Red Cross volunteers to help after typhoon
Nine American Red Cross of Hawaii volunteers have been sent to the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam to assist victims of Typhoon Chaba, which hit the islands Sunday.The storm -- with winds gusting at 145 miles per hour -- destroyed as many as 323 homes on Rota, Tinian and Saipan and left more than 1,000 people on the islands seeking shelter, Red Cross officials said.
Nearly 900 homes sustained major damage in the typhoon, the Red Cross said.
"Our volunteers were also very excited ... to be part of the relief effort as they know how important it is to provide relief to victims as soon as possible," said Red Cross of Hawaii Chief Operating Officer Cassandra Isidro. "We all know that this is just part of the Red Cross promise to always be there."
The Red Cross is asking for donations to assist in the relief effort. To give, call 800-HELP-NOW or go to www.redcross.org.
By Star-Bulletin staff
HONOLULU
Police hunt suspect in rape of 15-year-old
Police want help finding a male suspect who allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl Saturday in Waikiki.
Police said the girl met the suspect and his friends in Waikiki. They went back to her home on Paoakalani Avenue, police said. She awoke at about 1 a.m. to find the suspect sexually assaulting her, police said.
Police said the suspect fled, taking a computer, cell phone, play station and several DVDs.
The suspect is described as in his late teens or early 20s, 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, with a medium build, dark hair, slight mustache and earrings on both ears.
He was also wearing a gold marijuana pendant, had “Outlaw” tattooed in old English lettering across his stomach and tattoos on his left forearm.
Anyone with information may can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.
Aiea man, 71, named as victim in car wreck
The Medical Examiner’s office identified a man who was killed in an accident on Nimitz Highway under the airport viaduct yesterday as 71-year-old Apolinar Ulgaran of Aiea.
Ulgaran was driving Ewa-bound on Nimitz in a 1993 Chevrolet van when he sideswiped a car stopped to make a left turn onto Lagoon Drive.
The van continued through the intersection and struck a concrete pillar. Ulgaran, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The 49-year-old Honolulu woman in the car was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in good condition.
Man seeking 'weed' attempts to rob home
Honolulu police are looking for an man who allegedly tried to rob a Kahala home of marijuana yesterday.Police said the victim, a woman who lives at her boyfriend's residence, answered a knock on the door at 12:15 p.m. and was confronted by an man armed with a handgun and silencer.
The suspect demanded "weed" and entered the residence but then fled the scene after being informed there was no marijuana at the home.
Police are still looking for the suspect and have classified the case as a first-degree robbery.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Driver held in crash that killed 2 people
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Stanley Keliiholokai of Volcano is being held in the Hilo police cellblock pending further investigation by Traffic Enforcement Unit officers. Police have since reclassified the collision from a negligent homicide to a manslaughter investigation.
The collision took place at 5:26 p.m. Aug. 19 while Keliiholokai was driving a white Mitsubishi four-door sedan toward Hilo. Police said he attempted to pass several vehicles in a no-passing zone.
Police said Keliiholokai's car collided head-on with a tan Chevrolet two-door sedan driven by Rogelio Manahan near Nahelenani Street.
Keliiholokai's front-seat passenger, Clinton Kaleiwahea, 31, of Volcano and Manahan's wife and front seat passenger, Jeannette E. Manahan, 53, of Elmhurst, N.Y., were killed in the crash.
Keliiholokai and Rogelio Manahan were taken to the Hilo Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. Investigators said speed was believed to be a factor in the collision.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers