Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
THIS WAS NO SWAN SONG
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Flooding forces closure of Kahuku High School
State Department of Education officials said Kahuku High and Intermediate School will be closed today due to flooding on campus due to heavy rains.Windward police also said the waters of Waikane Stream flowed over Kamehameha Highway about 8:15 last night. Waters were reported to be three to four feet deep in some areas of the highway.
Hopeful appeals ouster from State House race
WAILUKU » State House candidate Cort Gallup is appealing a decision by Maui County Clerk Roy Hiraga to disqualify him from running for political office on Maui.Gallup, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Chris Halford (R, Kihei) filed an appeal to the decision with the state Election Commission's Board of Registration on Maui on Monday.
Attorney Bonnie McFadden, representing Gallup, said the appeal means county officials should continue to process the election contest between Gallup and Halford. "As long as it's under appeal, the status quo remains," McFadden said.
Hiraga ruled on Oct. 15 that Gallup was not eligible to vote because he had not proven he is an American citizen.
Gallup, 40, the former news and sports editor for the Maui Weekly newspaper, said he is a Native American and has dual citizenship in Canada and the United States.
Isle fugitive ordered back to Hawaii court A state judge revoked the probation of a Hawaii man on the U.S. Marshals Top 15 Most Wanted List who was captured in Idaho in July after nearly six years on the run.
Circuit Judge Derrick Chan ordered Reinier Kraan, 40, to return to court April 5 to be resentenced for a 1997 drug and firearm conviction.
He is currently awaiting trial next year in U.S. District Court on two cases involving methamphetamine trafficking and firearm offenses.
The federal charges stem from a crystal methamphetamine bust in July 1998 where Kraan was nearly caught by local and federal law enforcement. He managed to elude capture after kicking a passenger out of his car and fled, hitting speeds of up to 100 mph.
Federal agents later went to Kraan's Kaneohe home with a search warrant and uncovered an arsenal of 37 rifles, handguns, C-4 plastic explosives with electrical fuses, blasting caps, body armor, and armor-piercing and incendiary bullets.
In 2003, the Hawaii Fugitive Task Force tracked Kraan to California, and then Las Vegas. They staked out Kraan's Las Vegas home on July 13 only to learn he had left with his girlfriend five hours earlier and was believed to be headed to Canada. At the home, agents found 965 marijuana plants worth an estimated $1 million.
A state trooper spotted Kraan the next day driving a silver truck on the I-15 headed south by Dubois, Idaho. The trooper followed Kraan to a motel where he was arrested that evening without incident. In his truck was a pound of marijuana.
Kahuku farmer pleads not guilty to murder
A Kahuku farmer pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder for shooting a man he believed was stealing from him.Khamxath Baccam is accused of shooting Marcelino Pacheco Jr., 38, in the leg and leaving him to die on Malaekahana Valley Road on Sept. 7.
According to his attorney, Todd Eddins, Baccam was trying to protect himself from an alleged thief who was high on ice.
Baccam surrendered to Wahiawa police the next day.
Bu La'ia on probation for Hilo offenses
HILO » Shawn Kauhi Hill, the comedian known as Bu La'ia, was sentenced this week to a year on probation for three misdemeanor offenses during a disturbance at a Hilo store in March.Hill, 38, pleaded no contest to two counts of harassment allegedly involving throwing a metal can, a broom, a padlock, and a coconut at two people at Pacific Island Floors.
He pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, a misdemeanor charge that was reduced from an earlier felony charge of escape. After he was placed in handcuffs when arrested, Hill allegedly ran 20 yards in an escape attempt before police caught him again.
Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura also sentenced Hill to the 25 days in jail he already served after his arrest, and to 100 hours of community service.
Deputy public defender David Kuwahara told the court that Hill had been diagnosed with a mental problem but he did not describe it.
Nakamura ordered Hill to undergo a "mental health assessment" and to follow any treatment that is recommended.
Described in a court document as unemployed, Hill is currently a candidate for an at-large seat as a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Because none of the convictions were felonies, he remains eligible for the office.
Maui man gets 10 years for child porn
A federal judge sentenced a Maui man to 10 years in prison earlier this week for receiving child pornography tapes through the mail.John Dugan, 43, of Kihei, pleaded guilty Monday to receiving in April 2003 three tapes depicting children engaged in sexual acts. Postal Inspectors had sent the brochure which Dugan had ordered the pornography from after discovering that he had previously purchased videotapes from a Florida man who had been arrested for selling child porn.
When Dugan was arrested for receiving the child porn tapes, federal agents also seized candid photographs and videotapes of children taken at various beaches and public areas on Maui. According to testimony from a postal inspector, Dugan admitted going to areas frequented by children and taking pictures for his "viewing pleasure."
According to court documents Dugan had been previously convicted of sexual assault of a 14-year-old Maui girl in 1998 and served one year in jail for the offense. Following his release from prison in this latest case Dugan will be required to register as a sex offender in any state where he lives or works.
3 men charged in Chinatown drug case
A federal grand jury charged three men with trafficking crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a children's playground in Chinatown earlier this month.Carlos Anthony Harris, 28, Terrance Kemper, 33, and Ernest Rivera, 40, were each charged with 12 drug-trafficking counts on Oct. 20. Harris was arrested yesterday and arrest warrants are out for both Kemper and Rivera.
A federal indictment says Harris and Kemper distributed crack cocaine at the Lion's Den restaurant/lounge which is on the third floor of the Wo Fat Building on North Hotel Street. Rivera meanwhile provided security for the operation according to the indictment.
All three defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base.
Harris and Kemper are charged with cocaine distribution charges. Harris also faces six additional distribution charges while Kemper faces four additional distribution charges.
By Star-Bulletin staff
HONOLULU
2 males sought in downtown robbery
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Police said that about 10:30 p.m., two men in their 50s were walking downtown when they were approached from behind by the two male suspects. One of the victims handed over his wallet after a suspect brandished a handgun and demanded money.
Both suspects were last seen getting into a van and driving north on the Pali Highway.
The first suspect is described as 15 to 17 years old, 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with a medium build and complexion, a goatee and black straight hair "neatly" combed back, according to witnesses. The suspect was last seen wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt, white undershirt, gray long pants, athletic shoes and was armed with a handgun.
The second suspect is described as also 15 to 17 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, between 140 and 160 pounds, with a medium build, black kinky hair and brown complexion. He was wearing a blue plaid long-sleeved shirt, dark long pants and a white baseball cap.
Both men were last seen escaping in a blue van, described as possibly being a Chevrolet.
Detective Gordon Makashima is requesting that anyone with information about this case contact him at 529-3383.
Anonymous calls may also be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or by dialing *CRIME on a cellular phone.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
California man dies after Big Isle swim
A 58-year-old man died after snorkeling at Anaehoomalu Bay on the Big Island this weekend after being pulled out of the water unconscious by a companion and bystanders.The victim was identified as Douglas Elliot of California. Elliot was reported snorkeling at the bay at about noon Saturday when he became unconscious and was pulled out of the ocean. He was transported to the North Hawaii Community Hospital, where he was admitted into the critical care unit, and was pronounced dead at the hospital yesterday.
Police have classified the case as a coroner's inquest and have ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers