Police Beat

Advertiser Staff

Japanese tourist drowns in Waikiki

A 45-year-old tourist from Japan died yesterday in the waters off Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Fire Capt. Richard Soo said the man, a hotel guest, had been swimming yesterday afternoon with two friends off the crowded beach.

The three had gone out about 100 yards to the reef fronting the hotel.

The two friends decided to swim back around 2:30 p.m., Soo said. The 45-year-old man said he would catch up.

When the man didn't show up on the beach, the friends reported him missing to hotel security.

The fire department was called in around 4:40 p.m., Soo said.

A crew aboard a helicopter searched from the air and divers were dispatched.

The man's body was found, submerged in murky water, around 6 p.m., Soo said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kalihi boy in critical condition after crash

A 17-year-old Kalihi boy was in critical condition at the Queen's Medical Center last night after wrecking a stolen car yesterday in either a race or an act of road rage, police said.

The boy was traveling eastbound on Kalaniana'ole Highway, nearing the intersection of Kalaniana'ole and Kapa'a Quarry Road, shortly after 4 a.m.

He crossed into the left lane and collided with a car driven by a 17-year-old Kailua boy, causing both cars to slam into a guard rail about 103 feet east of Kapa'a Quarry road, police said.

The Kailua boy was uninjured. A passenger in the stolen car, also a 17-year-old Kalihi boy, suffered a broken left arm, according to police.

Both cars were Honda Civics.

The driver of the stolen car, who suffered head injuries, was wearing a seat belt, police said.

The passenger and the driver of the other car were not wearing their belts, but air bags deployed inside both cars.

Police think excessive speed was a factor in the incident, along with alcohol consumption by the driver of the stolen car.

Woman dies after fall from horse

A 38-year-old woman died yesterday after falling from a horse on the Big Island, according to firefighters.

Firefighters said they found the woman in a pasture in Laupahoehoe. Family members were administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the woman when paramedics arrived.

The woman remained unconscious and unresponsive.

Firefighters took over CPR and flew the woman to Hilo Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.