Man accused in Kauai stabbing remains a risk

LIHUE » A Kauai man accused of fatally stabbing his landlord and wounding his own stepson is not being allowed to leave the grounds of a state mental hospital unaccompanied.

For the second time in 13 months, Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe has denied 44-year-old Raymond Earl Ard's request to be allowed to leave the campus of Oahu's Hawaii State Hospital on his own. Ard is currently accompanied by hospital staff during such trips.

In her decision Wednesday, Watanabe said Ard's potential risk to the community still needs to be determined.

Ard was accused of stabbing his landlord, Jon Kerns, and attempting to kill his stepson, Richard Iwatate, in February 2005.

He was found guilty of first-degree attempted murder but then acquitted by reason of insanity.

Ard says he was “;completely delusional”; at the time of the attack but has since changed.

Man accused of beating grandmother charged

A 49-year-old Aiea Heights man who allegedly assaulted his 85-year-old grandmother until she was in critical condition has been charged with second-degree attempted murder.

Darrel Wright, of Kaulainahee Place, was being held on $500,000 bail.

Police said Wright, who is under a doctor's care for psychiatric issues, called police after he assaulted his grandmother in his home about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The woman was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition.

Man hit with assault charge in alleged Waikiki stabbing

A 30-year-old Waikiki man who allegedly stabbed a 25-year-old man several times with a kitchen knife in Waikiki has been charged with second-degree assault.

Antonio Perez, of Nahua Street, was arrested about 4:30 a.m. Friday after he allegedly stabbed the other man in the torso, arms, and one leg.

He was being held yesterday on $100,000 bail.

The victim was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Father and son argument escalates, ends in arrest

Police arrested a 42-year-old man and his 19-year-old son after an argument allegedly escalated into punches and threats with a knife.

Police said the 42-year-old man entered his son's home without permission, then threatened and assaulted his 19-year-old son at about 3:30 p.m. Friday.

The younger man then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and threatened his father outside the home on Ala Ilima Street in Salt Lake, police said.

Firefighters dig in against Big Island fire

Big Island firefighters are continuing efforts to contain a stubborn 1,400-acre brush fire burning mauka of Kealakekua.

Firefighters and a fire helicopter worked to contain the north side of the brush fire, which lept over a fire break yesterday, fire dispatchers said. The blaze is about seven miles mauka of Highway 11, above Konawaena High School.

The fire remained about 95 percent contained, said Quince Mento, head of the Hawaii County Civil Defense.

No one has been injured and no structures were threatened by the blaze, which started Thursday about 1:50 p.m. The cause remains unknown.