---

Raw sewage spills into stream at Mid-Pac

About 4,750 gallons of raw sewage were spilled on the Mid-Pacific Institute campus in Manoa yesterday morning, city officials said.

The spill happened about 10:50 a.m. and was discovered by a school employee who saw sewage coming out a manhole cover.

Lori Kahikina-Moniz, assistant chief of the city's Collection System Maintenance Division, said the spill was caused by tree roots clogging a 12-inch underground main. The obstruction was cleared by about 12:41 p.m.

Officials said most of the sewage ran into a drainage culvert that leads to Manoa Stream. Warning signs were posted at the stream, along with Ala Wai Canal and the Ala Wai Yacht Basin.

Water samples are being taken and the state Department of Health has been notified. The public is advised to avoid the affected areas.

Kahikina-Moniz said city crews will return to the school today to make sure the sewer main is free of roots or other obstructions.

Program to discuss exploitation of elderly

Financial exploitation of seniors will be discussed in a Kokua Council program from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow at Harris United Methodist Church on Nuuanu Avenue and South Vineyard Boulevard.

Speakers will be Lei Shimizu, University of Hawaii-Manoa instructor in the School of Social Work specializing in gerontology, and the state Human Services Department's Adult Protective Services' Financial Exploitation Team. Team members include social worker Joylyn Hargrove, auditor Calvin Lum and assistant Roxanne Clark.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Lunch is available for a $5 donation.

---

Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

HONOLULU

Police link suspect to other bank heists

A 52-year-old man arrested for allegedly robbing a bank in Chinatown yesterday may also be connected to a string of recent Honolulu bank robberies, police said.

But officers would not say how many robberies the man is suspected of committing or how he may be linked to the crimes.

Early last week, police said they were investigating whether one man robbed three Honolulu banks within five days the previous week. Police said they were investigating the possibility that the man arrested yesterday also robbed those banks.

The Chinatown bank robbery happened about 11:24 a.m. after the man allegedly entered a bank on the 100 block of North King Street and handed a note to a teller demanding money. The note said that the suspect was armed with a gun, police said.

The teller gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of cash, and he allegedly fled on foot, according to police.

Moments later, after an all-points-bulletin was put out for the suspect's arrest, a patrol officer saw the man jaywalking across Vineyard Boulevard.

When the officer tried to stop the suspect, he started to run mauka-bound through Foster Gardens, police said. More officers arrived and cornered the suspect, who allegedly had pulled out a folding knife.

Eventually the suspect was disarmed and arrested for suspicion of first-degree robbery and terroristic threatening.

Man arrested after girlfriend set on fire

Police arrested a 30-year-old Honolulu man for allegedly setting his girlfriend on fire during an argument Friday night.

The victim, 29, came home to the couple's Kinau Street residence at 8:50 p.m. and began arguing with her boyfriend. During the argument, he tried to leave but she blocked the door, according to police.

The suspect allegedly poured lighter fluid on the victim and lit her blouse on fire to make her get out of the way, police said.

The victim received minor injuries and called police, who arrested the suspect for suspicion of second-degree attempted assault.

WEST OAHU

Death from gangrene under investigation

State investigators are looking into the death of a 60-year-old man who died at the St. Francis West Medical Center yesterday morning.

Police said the victim was admitted to the hospital on July 30 suffering from gangrene, and died Saturday at 1:14 a.m.

The hospital notified the state Attorney General's Office and officials from the state Adult Protection Agency about the death as a possible neglect case.

For now, Honolulu police have classified the case as an unattended death.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

2 arrested in sale of fake marijuana

LAHAINA, Maui » The drugs may have been fake, Maui police say, but the arrests were very real.

In a joint task force drug sweep on Maui, law enforcement officers arrested a man in Honokohau Valley on Thursday night for allegedly selling fake marijuana to undercover officers.

Nile Nakagawa, 35, was charged in connection with the sale of an imitation controlled substance, police said.

Maui Police Capt. Charles Hirata, the Lahaina District commander, said the same sweep also resulted in the arrest of a 24-year-old Honokokau Valley man carrying packaged fake marijuana on Front Street in Lahaina, apparently trying to sell imitation drugs to tourists.

During the sweep, Maui police, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also arrested two other men wanted on outstanding warrants and a 25-year-old man for selling marijuana near a public park in Lahaina.