Police Beat
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Motorcyclist hurt after crash on Pali
A 30-year-old man was in critical condition at the Queen's Medical Center today after he crashed his speeding motorcycle last night on the Pali Highway, police said.
Police said the crash occurred at 8:18 p.m. on the town-bound side of the highway near the Pali Golf Course when the motorcyclist slammed his brakes to avoid traffic and lost control.
The blue-and-silver 2001 Harley Davidson motorcycle fell on its side, and its operator was thrown. The motorcyclist who suffered head and multiple body injuries, did not have a helmet and had no license, police said.
Police said speed was a factor in the crash and it's unknown if alcohol was a factor.
Warehouse fire under investigation
A fire that damaged a Waiau warehouse early yesterday probably was deliberately set, a police arson investigator said.
The fire at M Dyer & sons Inc., 98-054 Kuleana Road, was reported at 4:07 a.m. by a passing motorist. When firefighters arrived, they found wooden shipping crates and the exterior of the warehouse on fire.
The blaze was quickly extinguished, but not before it caused an estimated $5,000 in damage to the building and the crates. An arson investigator ruled out electrical and accidental causes and said the fire likely was set by an arsonist.
Police release man involved in fatality
The 28-year-old Wai'anae man who was arrested after his car struck and killed 7-year-old Ethan Thomas in Nanakuli Friday night has been released pending further investigation of the case, police said.
The driver was arrested for investigation of negligent homicide, driving without a license and suspicion of driving under the influence. Police said his blood alcohol content exceeded the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The man was released Saturday from the main police station, police said, and has not been charged.
Police said they need more time to investigate the crash that occurred about 8:20 p.m. Friday in front of Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Kahe power plant.
Thomas was taken to St. Francis-West Medical Center, where he died an hour later. His 54-year-old father suffered a leg injury and was hospitalized.
The Nanakuli fatality was one of three O'ahu traffic fatalities on Friday and Saturday.
Officials are awaiting fingerprints on the two other victims killed in separate collisions and their names have not been released.
Police still are searching for the driver of a white Volkswagen Jetta believed to have been racing with a 19-year-old 'Aina Haina man killed in a crash at 3:30 a.m. Saturday on the H-1 Freeway near the Wai'alae Avenue off-ramp.
Investigators said they have received information from people who say they might know the driver of the other car, but are still asking for help on the case.
Anyone with information on that car, the driver or the collision can call investigators at 529-3499.
The third case involved a 55-year-old man killed just before 5 a.m. Saturday when his late-model Honda crossed the center line on Kamehameha Highway north of Wahiawa and struck a utility pole.
Man arrested after domestic dispute
A domestic dispute that escalated into a car chase in Wai'anae led to the arrest of one man after he crashed his car into his ex-girlfriend's car yesterday, police said.
According to police, the woman went to her ex-boyfriend's house to pick up her 1-year-old son. The parents of the ex-boyfriend refused to give her the child and the woman was then chased by her ex-boyfriend. He smashed into her car when he tried to make her pull over and stopped in front of her by the Waianae Mall Shopping Center.
The man pounded the woman's windshield and caused small pieces of glass to fall on her, police said. Police responded and arrested the man on suspicion of first-degree reckless endangering and first-degree criminal property damage.
