Police nab suspect in robbery

Police arrested a 25-year-old man yesterday in connection with a home-invasion robbery in St. Louis Heights Oct. 27.

Police believed initially that the robbery was connected to a fatal stabbing in Pearl City earlier that day.

However, police said this morning, that the robbery, at 2012 Oswald St., may not be related after all to the murder of 29-year-old Brendan Caires.

“;At first the proximity was there and the descriptions matched,”; said homicide Lt. Bill Kato. “;But as the investigation went on it was obvious St. Louis was going off in another direction.”;

At about 11 p.m. on Oct. 27, three men forced their way into the St. Louis Heights home and were allegedly looking for someone and demanding drugs.

Police said the suspects learned the person they were looking for no longer lived there, and then robbed the 10 people who were at the home.

Police, including officers from the Specialized Services Division, arrested the suspect, of Makiki, at 6640 Hawaii Kai Drive on suspicion of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, kidnapping and three outstanding warrants.

The second suspect in the robbery is described as in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall, and weighing about 170 to 180 pounds. He was wearing a black hoody, black pants and a dark-colored bandana.

The third suspect is said to be in his early 20s, 5-foot-7, and about 180 to 200 pounds. He also was wearing black pants and a black hoody. All three men were reported to have had assault-type firearms.

Two of the robbery suspects, including the man arrested yesterday matched the description of two men wanted in Caires' slaying.

At 1 a.m. Oct. 27, Caires and his girlfriend were on their enclosed porch at the back of a townhouse at the Waiau Gardens Kai complex on Noelani Street when two men in hockey goalie masks broke in and Caires was stabbed.

WEST OAHU

Deaths might be murder-suicide

Police suspect the deaths of a 40-year-old man and 36-year-old woman whose bodies were found Friday in a Ko Olina home may have been a murder-suicide.

The Medical Examiner's Office said the man died from asphyxia due to hanging. The cause of death of the woman has not been determined and their identities have not been released.

Their bodies were found Friday evening, and police initially suspected the case to be a suicide and an unattended death.

Police were called to the home to check on their welfare when they discovered the bodies.

The woman's body was found in the living room, and the man's body was found in the enclosed garage.

Man, 46, accused of sexual assaults

Authorities charged a 46-year-old man yesterday with 13 counts of sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman that allegedly went on for five years in Salt Lake.

Marcelito Lagpacan was charged with five counts of first-degree sexual assault and eight counts of third-degree sexual assault.

Bail was set at $50,000.

Police said the alleged sexual assaults occurred in the Salt Lake area.

Lagpacan was arrested yesterday on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and attempted first-degree sexual assault.

The victim reported that Lagpacan had sexually assaulted her from 2002 through 2007.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Maui has 21st crash fatality of '08

WAILUKU » A Maui man died Saturday after a two-car crash in Kahului.

James Tavares, 59, of Wailuku died at Maui Memorial Medical Center a few hours after the crash at 3:12 p.m., police said.

Tavares was the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the crash on Kahului Beach Road, about a fifth of a mile south of Kanaloa Avenue.

Police said a 19-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman in the other vehicle were transported to a hospital in stable condition.

Tavares' death was the 21st traffic fatality in the county this year, compared with 19 for the same period last year.

Results of an autopsy of Tavares yesterday prompted police to open a traffic fatality investigation, police Lt. Robert Hill said.

LEEWARD OAHU

Boyfriend sought in woman's beating

Police were looking for a 44-year-old man who allegedly beat his girlfriend Sunday night.

Police said the 29-year-old woman suffered facial injuries that caused her to bleed profusely.

The victim walked home and before losing consciousness told her brother that her boyfriend had hit her, police said.

She was taken by ambulance to a hospital in serious condition, police said.

Further information was not available.