Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News

Burglary foiled by fumigation workers

A 36-year-old homeless man was arrested on burglary charges yesterday after pest control workers saw him leaving a tented house on Kahala Avenue.

The pest control workers arrived at 4584 Kahala Ave. about 9:30 a.m. to take off a fumigation tent, saw the suspect leaving the house and chased him, but lost him, said Honolulu Police Lt. Harrison Kim Han.

Soon afterward, plainclothes officers arrested the man on nearby Onaha Street, Kim Han said. The man had apparently taken some leather jackets and silverware from the house, putting them outside a window, but inside the fumigation tent, he said.

The man remained in policy custody last night, pending charges.

The police SWAT team was called out “because the Terminex people though they heard another person inside the house” and they didn’t know if the person could be armed, Kim Han said. Several neighboring houses were evacuated and a portion of Kahala Avenue, from Uliuli to Koloa streets, was closed until the SWAT team was able to enter the house at 2 p.m. and found no one there.

The time lapse was to allow officers to create a sealed perimeter, confer with the house owners and check the air quality in the house, Kim Han said.

Bank robber agrees to make restitution

A woman has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to 57 months in prison after pleading guilty to a June 19 robbery of the Waipahu branch of Central Pacific Bank. She also agreed to pay back the money taken in two other robberies, police said.

Leyen Gradle agreed to pay restitution for not only the Central Pacific robbery, but also for the robberies of the main Bank of Hawaii branch on March 11 and the Waipahu City Bank branch on July 29, 2003, police said.

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin staff

NORTH SHORE

Haleiwa main break shuts down highway

A 16-inch water main break shut down Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa in both directions yesterday and cut water to some area residents.

Crews were expected to work overnight to fix the problem, and hoped to have at least one lane of the roadway open by this morning.

Residents in parts of Kawailoa, Waimea and Haleiwa were expected to be without water until about midnight, a Honolulu Board of Water Supply dispatcher said.

The break, fronting Haleiwa Beach Park, occurred at 4:06 p.m. yesterday. The roadway was closed between Joseph P. Leong Highway and Jameson's By the Sea.

A water board dispatcher said the break backed up traffic for miles.

LEEWARD OAHU

3 airlifted after crash near Makaha beach

Three people were airlifted to the Queen's Medical Center last night after a head-on collision near Makaha Surfing Beach, police said.

An Emergency Medical Services supervisor said one woman was in serious condition. Two others, whose genders were not available, were stable. The accident occurred at about 8:30 p.m.

HONOLULU

Police seek suspect in HCC shooting

Police were looking for a suspect in his 20s in the shooting of two teenagers in a Honolulu Community College parking lot late Friday.

The two injured teenagers were taken to the Queen's Medical Center. Their conditions were not available, but police said their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Police said there were two groups of three young men fighting in the parking lot on Kokea Street at about 10:30 p.m. Friday when someone shot a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man with a handgun.

Suspect arrested after termite-tent burglary

A 36-year-old homeless man was arrested on burglary charges yesterday after pest control workers saw him leaving a tented house on Kahala Avenue.

The pest control workers arrived at 4584 Kahala Ave. about 9:30 a.m. to take off a fumigation tent, and saw the suspect leaving the house, said Honolulu Police Lt. Harrison Kim Han. Kim Han said the workers chased the man, but lost him.

Soon afterward, plainclothes officers arrested the man on nearby Onaha Street, Kim Han said. The man remained in policy custody last night, pending charges.

The police SWAT team was called out because the Terminix (International Termite Control) people thought they heard another person inside the house, Kim Han said.

Several neighboring houses were evacuated and a portion of Kahala Avenue, from Uliuli to Koloa streets, was closed until the SWAT team was able to enter the house at 2 p.m. and found no one there.