Kauai surfer dies in big waves

KAPAA, Kauai » A 30-year-old surfer died Thursday in large surf along Kauai's windward shore.

Lloyd Albinio of Kapaa was found submerged underwater at about 3:10 p.m. Thursday at Kealia Beach. He was pulled from the water by lifeguards, who performed CPR. He was transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital but died Thursday afternoon.

County officials could not say whether Albinio was injured prior to being found unconscious.

Surf at Kealia, sometimes referred to as Kauai's Sandy Beach because of its pounding shore break, was 6 to 12 feet with some bigger sets Thursday.

Ordnance is removed from yard

HANAMAULU, Kauai » An old, unexploded piece of ordnance sat in a front yard for decades before an elderly woman turned it over to police last week, Kauai officials said.

On Dec. 8, Kauai police received a call for assistance Monday from a woman who wanted to remove a large artillery shell from her home, police said yesterday.

According to the woman, the shell, with its primer and warhead still intact, was found by a family member 20 or 25 years ago at the Marine Camp in Nukolii and had been sitting in her front yard since then, officials said.

The M-79 armor piercing round, almost 3 feet high, was removed by police and kept securely until yesterday, when the Army 706 Explosive Unit detonated the shell at the KPD Firing Range, county officials added.

HONOLULU

UH on alert after student is attacked

A University of Hawaii student was sexually assaulted Thursday in a stairwell of on-campus housing, according to a UH security alert.

Police said a first-degree sexual assault case has been opened in connection with the 20-year-old woman's rape.

The UH alert, which was e-mailed to students and faculty yesterday, said the woman was grabbed by an unknown man and sexually assaulted in the Hale Wainani apartment's exterior stairwell at about 7:30 p.m.

The man was wearing a red shirt and black shorts.

Security and student housing staff are increasing presence in the area, the alert said.

Shooters sought in Chinatown

Police are looking for two unknown men who fired off several rounds in Chinatown yesterday.

At about 6:20 a.m., several callers reported shots fired on Kukui Street, police said. Police found several shell casings on the ground. No one was hurt.

Police opened a first-degree reckless-endangerment case.

LEEWARD OAHU

Man allegedly recorded girlfriend

Police arrested a 37-year-old Ewa Beach man yesterday who allegedly set up a hidden camera in the bedroom of his 17-year-old girlfriend.

On Wednesday the Ewa Beach girl found the concealed camera pointed where she usually gets dressed, police said.

The girl's mother confronted the man yesterday, and he confessed, police said. Police recovered the evidence and arrested the man on suspicion of first-degree violation of privacy.