Fatality in crash may have been ill

Big Island police identified a 67-year-old Hilo man who died yesterday in a two-vehicle crash in Hilo as John N. Mahoe Sr.

Police said Mahoe may have suffered from a medical condition before the crash. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Police said Mahoe was driving a pickup truck at 9:28 a.m. yesterday and was heading east on Kamehameha Avenue when the truck climbed the sidewalk, returned to the roadway, then struck a vehicle stopped in traffic.

The pickup then climbed the sidewalk again and hit several posts fronting the Jackson Volvo car dealership.

Fire rescue personnel transported Mahoe to Hilo Medical Center, where he died at 12:05 p.m.

The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.

Man hunted for sex attack, robbery

Police are looking for a man in his early 20s who sexually assaulted and robbed a 50-year-old woman Sunday night at the McKinley High School track area.

Police said the woman was apparently exercising at the track when she was attacked at 9 p.m. Sunday.

The man reportedly sexually assaulted and took some personal property from the woman, police said.

Dogs safe after Big Island house fire

Big Island firefighters and volunteers quickly doused an early morning house fire in Ocean View yesterday.

No one was home at the time of the 2:35 a.m. blaze, but firefighters rescued a female dog and her two pups that were caged five feet from the house.

The fire caused an estimated $52,075 in damage to the 600-square-foot single-family dwelling.

When firefighters arrived the house was fully engulfed, and there was no water supply. They got to the scene in eight minutes and had the fire under control at 3:08 a.m.