Kaneohe man, 36, was driver in fatal accident

A man killed Wednesday night when he lost control of his sedan, which hit a road sign and a tree, was identified yesterday as Michael Bell Jr., 36, of Kaneohe, the city Medical Examiner's Office said.

Bell, who died from multiple blunt force injuries due to an accident, was “;acutely”; intoxicated, the Medical Examiner's Office said.

Police said a 27-year-old man from Florida was a passenger in the red 2006 Nissan two-door sedan and was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

The accident occurred at 11:25 p.m., 279 feet northeast of the Pali lookout offramp.

The Nissan was Kaneohe-bound when it went out of control, struck a speed limit sign and slid broadside into a tree, police said.

2 dogs die in blaze at Waipahu house

A fire at a Waipahu home displaced a family of three and killed two dogs yesterday.

Firefighters responded to the fire at 94-1108 Kahuamo St. at 6:58 a.m. and saw heavy smoke and flames coming from a bedroom window on the side of the single-story, four-bedroom home.

Firefighters used compressed foam to control the blaze, which was reported under control at 7:23 a.m. and extinguished at about 7:30 a.m.

Nobody was home at the time. Several neighbors called 911, according to Capt. Terry Seelig, a fire department spokesman.

A neighbor used a garden hose to keep the fire from spreading. Other homes were not affected.

Damage was estimated at $300,000 to the wooden structure and its contents. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The American Red Cross-Hawaii Chapter is helping the family.

Man, 28, dies after van hits him near Lahaina

A 28-year-old man was killed Wednesday night after being struck by a van while he was walking on Honoapiilani Highway near Lahaina.

The man was walking south about a half-mile north of Keawe Street when he was hit shortly after 12:15 a.m. by a Mazda passenger van, Maui police said.

The driver of the van, the vehicle's only occupant, was not injured.

This was Maui's fourth traffic fatality of 2010, the same number as at this time last year.

Waianae man arrested in shooting of his wife

A 54-year-old Waianae man was arrested Wednesday after police said he shot his 53-year-old wife in the head.

The two had been arguing at their home when the husband got his rifle and shot the woman, police said.

The woman fled to a nearby relative's home and called police.

She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated and released for a single gunshot wound, police said.

The man also verbally threatened a 20-year-old woman who was at home at the time of the shooting, police said.

Police found the man at the home, where he was arrested on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree assault and abuse of a family or household member.