Police Beat
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Ex-officer sentenced in airport overtime
A former police officer who pleaded no contest in September to taking more than $13,000 for work he didn't do was placed yesterday on conditions similar to probation for five years.
If he stays out of trouble during that time, Felito Laboy will avoid having a criminal record.
Judge Richard Perkins also sentenced Laboy to 300 hours of community service.
Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said at an earlier court hearing that discrepancies in Laboy's pay were uncovered when the state Department of Transportation did an audit into high police overtime pay at the Honolulu airport during 1999.
Young said the audit showed Laboy was paid for 15 days between Feb. 16 and July 28, 1999, when he did not report for work at all, and was paid for 354 hours of work on another 89 occasions although he did not work a full shift. Laboy was in charge of a detail at the airport.
Young said Laboy, 57, had repaid the state $13,509.
A second former police officer, James Duarte, 51, was placed on five years' probation earlier this month and was ordered to repay almost $9,700 after pleading no contest to charges that he was paid for eight days of work but did not report at all, and arrived late but received full pay 93 other times.
Moped rider still in critical condition
A 14-year-old Nanakuli boy was in critical condition yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center after his moped was hit by a car Tuesday night on Farrington Highway.
The accident happened at about 9 p.m. when the boy, riding a red 1991 Yamaha Razz bike, was leaving a private driveway at 87-597 Farrington Highway.
He was struck by a gray 1992 Mercedes-Benz driven by a 60-year-old Wai'anae man in the westbound lanes of the highway.
The boy, who wasn't wearing a helmet, was thrown from the moped and suffered head injuries. He was taken by helicopter to Queen's.
Speed did not appear to be a factor, police said, and alcohol was eliminated as a factor in the case of the driver of the car.
Custodian thwarts attack on girl
Police are crediting an alert custodian with stopping an attack on a teenage girl in Liliha.
The custodian heard the girl's screams, rushed to the scene Tuesday and frightened off her attacker.
The girl, 13, was walking through the campus of Kauluwela Elementary School, en route to her own school, about 6:35 a.m. A man grabbed her and pulled her into the hallway of a building housing first- and fifth-grade classrooms, a school spokesperson said.
The custodian heard her screaming and ran to the scene. The assailant fled in a black pickup that was parked at the Kauluwela Place back entrance.
The girl continued on to school, said Kauluwela principal Gwen Lee. Police declined to say what school the girl attends. She was taken to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, where she was treated and released.
Lee said a school bulletin will warn parents and students to avoid the campus in the early hours. The school is ringed by apartment buildings, and strangers often cut through the campus.
McCully man attacked, robbed
A 61-year-old McCully man was robbed early yesterday while he walked from his parked car to his apartment building entrance.
Police were called about 1 a.m. to 1820 Waiola St. after a reported attack by a male suspect described only as wearing a white shirt and black shorts.
The robber hit the victim in the face, took his handbag, valued at $200, and fled. Police said the victim was taken to Kuakini Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Industrial park worker injured
Emergency medics Tuesday were called to Campbell Industrial Park when a section of chain-link fencing injured a worker.
Fire and ambulance crews were called to Island Mechanical Corp., 91-039 Hanua St., about 2:25 p.m. The worker was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada said the fencing was being hoisted from a pallet by a forklift when a gust of wind caught it, and it struck the worker in the head.
Man accused of ramming car
A motorist mad at his girlfriend Tuesday hit the car she was riding in and tried to run it off the road in Kane'ohe, police said.
The boyfriend was angry with his girlfriend and spotted her in the car, driven by a female friend. When the friend stopped at a red light on Kamehameha Highway, near the H-3 overpass, the man rammed her car with his vehicle.
Both drivers got out of the car and argued. The driver then returned to her car and told police the man pursued them and tried to run them off the road.
Police went to the man's home, but he was not there. He later turned himself in to police and was arrested.
