Neighbor Island briefs

Advertiser Staff and News Services

BIG ISLAND

Man held in shooting

HILO, Hawai'i — A 50-year-old Big Island man was being held yesterday on $65,000 bail at the Hilo police cellblock after being charged with attempted murder.

Melchor Ventura is accused of shooting at, but missing, a 19-year-old man last Sunday in Pepe'ekeo, police said.

The intended victim told police the gunman, who had apparently been waiting for him, fired two shots near the intersection of Kulaimano and Hawai'i Belt roads before fleeing in a car.

Ventura was charged Friday after being arrested at his home in Hawaiian Paradise Park. He also faces charges of using of a firearm in the commission of a felony and prohibited ownership of a firearm.

Police arrest Hilo man, 19

HILO, Hawai'i — Police arrested and charged a 19-year-old Hilo man Friday with terroristic threatening, burglary and two counts of rape in connection with the Nov. 28 break-in of a home in Hawi, North Kohala.

Ezra Bob Mahu, a former North Kohala resident, was arrested on a warrant and ordered held in lieu of $140,000 bail. He earlier was charged in a similar burglary and sexual assault Nov. 11 in Kapa'au.

Puna woman identified

HILO, Hawai'i — A woman found dead in a lava tube has been identified as Sharon Rushlow, 47, of Nanawale Estates in Puna.

Rushlow apparently had been trying to save two puppies, police said.

She was found dead Wednesday, wedged headfirst in the 2-foot-wide lava tube about 150 feet from her home.

The two puppies were rescued after Rushlow's body was removed by Fire Department personnel, police said.

There were no signs of a struggle at Rushlow's home or any other indication that foul play might have been involved, police Capt. Elroy Osorio Jr. said.

Rushlow had been reported missing by family members.