Police Beat
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Skateboarder dies of crash injuries
The victim in a skateboarding accident at Kapi'olani Community College died Monday at The Queen's Medical Center.
The man, a 20-year-old Kaimuki resident, was hurt at 1:55 a.m. Monday while riding his skateboard down a slope on the college campus.
He was taken in critical condition to Queen's, where he died at 9:15 a.m.
Police said he was with two other skateboarders when the accident happened. City medical examiners were not releasing his identity yesterday.
Koa tree branch fatally injures man
A 30-year-old Honoka'a man died yesterday morning of injuries he suffered in a tree-felling accident Monday night in the Big Island's Hamakua district.
Joshua Olival was trying to cut down a koa tree at about 7:53 p.m. in Pa'auilo when a large branch struck him, police said. He was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:26 a.m.
Wai'anae man tries to kill family
A 31-year-old homeless man was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening after he doused his mother and a cousin with gasoline and tried to strike a match, police said.
The attack began at about 3 p.m. at his mother's Hana Street home in Wai'anae.
The suspect had come to wash his clothes and when the mother asked him to leave, he reportedly became angry.
Police said the man seized a gasoline can and began pouring gas on his mother, 47, and a 25-year-old female cousin. He threatened to kill them and attempted to light matches, according to the police report.
Leads sought in cat cruelty cases
The police CrimeStoppers program is seeking leads to help solve animal-cruelty cases in Kailua and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
The two Kailua cases, both reported at the 'Aikahi Gardens townhouse complex, occurred last week and led to the death of two cats. In the first case, reported Feb. 12, a cat that got out of the house at 1:45 a.m. returned later, showing evidence of head trauma and of being shot with an air-pellet gun, said CrimeStoppers Detective Letha DeCaires.
In the second case, reported Feb. 13, a cat owner found the sick animal as well as a can of cat food someone had placed at the front door, containing another substance. The cat died later at the veterinarian, who identified the substance as antifreeze or a similar compound, DeCaires said.
She added that nine other cats have been reportedly killed using a similar chemical substance in cat food, around UH dormitories Jan. 22-24.
"I've seen a number of people who have said, 'If they're in my yard and eat this stuff, that's life,'" DeCaires said. "But it's cruelty."
Anyone with information may call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Teen accused of robbing neighbor
Police on Sunday arrested a 14-year-old Waikele boy who is accused of walking into his neighbor's home while residents were watching TV downstairs and stealing jewelry from an upstairs bedroom.
The case, classified as a burglary, was reported at 2:25 p.m. on an undisclosed street. Police said a witness saw the boy run downstairs with the jewelry and chased him, catching him two blocks away.
Brush fire near Ka Uka, extinguished
Firefighters worked for three hours yesterday morning to extinguish a brush fire that broke out off the Ka Uka Boulevard exit of the H-2 Freeway and burned about four acres.
The alarm sounded at 1:32 a.m., but firefighters were unable to pinpoint the location of the blaze until 2:14 a.m., said an HFD dispatcher. It was put out at 5:15 a.m.
Water-main break cripples Kapahulu
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply was working yesterday morning to repair a broken 6-inch water main that affected six homes and Kapahulu traffic.
The main, on Kana'ina Street near the Makini Street intersection, broke at about 2:15 a.m.
