HONOLULU

Girl, 14, takes car with baby inside

Police arrested a 14-year-old girl who allegedly stole a car with a baby inside.

Police said that at about 7:15 last night, there was an altercation between two women at Makiki and Kinau streets.

Police said the teenager jumped into a car belonging to one of the women and drove away. A 1-year-old child belonging to a 33-year-old woman was inside the car, police said.

Police searched for about two hours before finding the teen in Liliha. The child was unharmed, police said. Police arrested the girl on suspicion of kidnapping, auto theft and driving without a license. Police said the suspect and the infant's mom are related, but didn't provide details.

CENTRAL OAHU

Man accused of damaging TV

Police arrested Tuesday a 20-year-old man who allegedly broke into another man's home and damaged his TV.

At about 2 p.m. Monday, the suspect entered a Mililani home without permission looking for another man to collect a debt, police said.

The suspect argued with a 24-year-old man who lived in the house, police said. The suspect then allegedly broke a TV and fled.

Police found the suspect Tuesday and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree burglary.

HONOLULU

Teenager says he faced gun threat

A teenager told police that a man forced him to lie on the ground for two hours Tuesday.

The 17-year-old boy said he was walking to school in Makiki at about 11 a.m. when a man confronted him and held an object to his back, according to police.

The boy told police that the man told him to lie in the grass and threatened to shoot him if he moved. The boy stayed on the grass for about two hours until he realized the suspect was gone. The boy reported the incident to his school counselor.

There was no description of the suspect.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Fire damages home in Hilo

A fire caused $240,000 in damage yesterday to a single-family home in Hilo.

The Hawaii County Fire Department said no one was injured in the 1 p.m. blaze at 54 Hiluhilu St.

When firefighters arrived flames were seen coming out of the windows on two sides of the house, officials said. The cause is under investigation, officials said.

[ THE COURTS ]

Sister aids in suspect's arrest

A 19-year-old alleged robber who police say hit the same store three times over a span of seven days is facing first- and second-degree robbery charges after his sister escorted him to the police station.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging John Rosaga of Kalihi with the crimes. He remains in custody unable to post $25,000 bail.

Police said Rosaga went to Y-7 Liquor Store at 1323 Gulick Ave. on Jan. 19, 25 and 26.

The first time, he asked the 69-year-old female owner for $20, showed her the butt of a handgun in his waistband, took the money and fled, police said.

Police said Rosaga fled empty-handed the second time after he demanded money from the woman's husband, who refused.

The third time, he told the woman he had a gun and fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police said Rosaga's sister took her brother to turn himself in to police Feb. 4 after she saw pictures of him on a CrimeStoppers alert on television earlier that day. She also turned in a BB gun that she said Rosaga admitted using in the first robbery.

Arms-dealing case leads to home sale

The man accused of selling secrets about the B-2 stealth bomber to China has agreed to sell his home on Maui as part of the government's effort to have him forfeit proceeds of his alleged crimes.

Noshir Gowadia and his wife purchased the property at 575 N. Holokai Road in Haiku in 2005 for $2.9 million.

The agreement allows the mortgage holder to recover the unpaid balance when the property is sold. The rest will go to the government should it prevail at the conclusion of the forfeiture proceedings.

Gowadia, 65, is facing 21 charges accusing him of selling secrets about the B-2 to China, trying to sell military secrets to other countries, money laundering and making false statements. He has been in custody since 2005. His trial is scheduled for May.

Fatal crash jails man for 18 months

A man who crashed his sport utility vehicle in Kahaluu two years ago, killing the passenger, will have to spend 18 months in prison.

Robert Lawson, 35, pleaded guilty to first-degree negligent homicide in the Dec. 6, 2006, death of Marilyn Maga Richard.

A state judge sentenced him yesterday to five years' probation. The 18-month prison term is a condition of the probation. The judge also fined Lawson $500 for driving without motor vehicle insurance and ordered him to pay $3,311 for Richard's funeral expenses.

Lawson's SUV was traveling north on Kamehameha Highway near the Hygenic Store when the vehicle veered off the roadway, hit a guardrail and flipped over. Richard was pronounced dead at the scene. Lawson was taken to Castle Medical Center for minor injuries.

Police said alcohol use was a factor in the crash.

Lawson said he had at least two drinks at Pipeline Cafe before the crash but not the eight that prosecutors allege. His lawyer said Lawson's blood-alcohol content measured 0.07 a half-hour after the crash.

The legal threshold for driving under the influence is 0.08.
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Man indicted in 2 rape, kidnap cases

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging John C. Veikoso with crimes related to the separate abductions and rapes of two women at same location three weeks apart.

The indictment charges Veikoso, 21, with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of third-degree sexual assault. He remains in custody unable to post $2 million bail.

Veikoso lists as his home address the First Tongan United Methodist Church in Waimanalo.

Police said Veikoso picked up his victims in the downtown Honolulu area and drove them in his pickup truck to Maunawili Elementary School, where he sexually assaulted them. The alleged assaults happened on Jan. 18 and last Saturday.

Veikoso pleaded guilty in December to carrying a firearm without a permit, and is scheduled to appear in state court next Tuesday for sentencing.