Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Collectibles shop reports theft
HILO, Hawai'i — A roll of 500 buffalo-head nickels valued at $3,500, baseball cards and other items were stolen from a downtown Hilo shop by a man who was accompanied by a 2-year-old girl.
The two entered Big Island Collectibles on Kilauea Avenue around 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, said police officer Wendall Carter. The man was seen placing items in his backpack. When confronted by the shop owner, the thief left the store with the child and was last seen heading west on Ponahawai Street.
Other items stolen include a bicentennial coin set, foreign coins and jewelry. The total loss was estimated at $10,100.
Police said pawn shops and other businesses should be on the lookout for anyone trying to sell the stolen items.
Anyone with information on the crime should call Carter of the South Hilo Patrol Division at 961-2311; the police nonemergency number at 935-3311; or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
Seat belt use down on Maui
A University of Hawai'i survey shows a drop in seat belt use on Maui.
The survey, taken in January, revealed that almost 71.5 percent of passengers in motor vehicles were using seat belts, down from about 75.7 percent reported last year.
Maui police said they would increase seat-belt enforcement on roadways where the survey showed use was lowest. These areas include Kahului Beach Road, Haleakala Extension near Costco, Old Haleakala Highway at Ulunui Place in Pukalani and Honoapi'ilani Highway in Lahaina.
Woman arrested with stolen van
Kane'ohe police became suspicious Tuesday night when a 23-year-old woman hot-wired a stalled van to restart it.
Police were called to the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Mokulele Drive at 11:17 p.m. when neighbors reported a van stopped in the middle of Mokulele.
The woman told the patrol officer that the van had stalled when she was turning it around, police said. The officer watched as she restarted the van by crossing the wires beneath the ignition. The officer then checked the vehicle identification number, found it to be a stolen van and arrested the woman.
Man found hurt in Salt Lake driveway
A 70-year-old man remained in critical condition yesterday at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center after he was found lying in a Salt Lake driveway Tuesday night.
Neighbors found the man lying in the driveway and bleeding from the back of his head at about 11:30 p.m. outside an apartment building at 1031 Ala Napunani St.
Police are investigating.
