WINDWARD OAHU

Man allegedly punches officer

Police charged a 51-year-old homeless man yesterday who allegedly trespassed onto a Kailua property, then punched a police officer in the face.

Delbert Pagador, held on $15,000 bail, was charged with first-degree assault on a police officer and first-degree terroristic threatening.

At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to Pagador allegedly trespassing at the 200 block of Kuuhale Street. The property manager, a 40-year-old man, had told Pagador to leave.

Police said when officers told Pagador to stop, he turned around and punched one officer in the face.

He ran and got into the police officer's car, police said. The officer pulled him out, and Pagador struggled, grabbing the officer's handcuffs and threatening other officers, police said.

The attacked officer had swelling to his left cheek and abrasions to his knees.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Floating body found in Hilo Bay

Big Island police are investigating a body found yesterday floating in the breakwater at Hilo Bay.

Police requested an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Further details were not available.

Resident is injured in 3-townhouse fire

A fire caused $300,000 in damage yesterday to three townhouses and injured a 56-year-old man in Puhi, a Kauai County news release said.

The man and two women were home in the second-floor unit of Halenani Village when the fire started at 12:26 a.m., the release said. They ran to a neighboring unit, and neighbors set up a ladder and helped them climb down.

Rescuers took the man to Wilcox Hospital, where he was treated for burns on his left arm and released. The woman escaped unharmed. Firefighters extinguished the fire at about 3 a.m.

The fire heavily damaged the unit where it started and partially damaged an adjacent unit, while the unit below sustained water and heat damage.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Injuries raise assault suspicion

Maui police are investigating a possible assault in a case that left a 18-year-old man severely injured at the bottom of a 60-feet ledge near Polipoli State Park on Wednesday.

The man's brother called police to report him missing after he was last seen at a party in the Polipoli State Park area. At 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, an hour after the brother contacted police, Maui Fire Department located the man about 60 feet down at the bottom of a ledge.

He was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center for his injuries, which included multiple trauma and facial fractures. He remains confined in the Intensive Care Unit and was unable to give a statement to police.

A press release by Maui Police Lt. John D. Jakubczak indicated that the man may have been intoxicated, saying they were unable to get a statement because of the “;condition of his sobriety.”;

Police are still investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Maui police's Criminal Investigation Division at 244-6425.

Firefighters help wayward hiker

Big Island firefighters rescued a lost hiker during a heavy storm this weekend from a trail to Akaka Falls in Hilo, according to a news release.

The 25-year-old hiker called for help at about 8:20 p.m. Saturday. He said he had wandered off the trail at about 5:30 p.m. and could not find his way out.

Three firefighters entered the trail on foot and hiked up sloped, muddy ground with zero visibility.

They found the man uninjured after midnight.

Guardrail crash hurts motorcyclist

A 46-year-old Anahola man was seriously injured Saturday after he crashed his motorcycle on Kuhio Highway on Kauai.

Police said the motorcyclist was traveling southbound on the highway when he lost control and crashed into a guardrail. He remains in fair condition at Wilcox Hospital.

Police are investigating the crash, which closed the southbound lane of Kuhio Highway for 1 1/2 hours after the accident.