Police said a 25-year-old man being held at the hospital on criminal charges was taken yesterday morning to an unsecured part of the facility, from which he escaped. He was found at about 9:30 a.m. at a bank.

Boy, 12, arrested in sexual assault

A 12-year-old boy was arrested yesterday at Funchal Street on suspicion of the second-degree sexual assault of a 12-year-old female classmate.

The complaint involved an incident reportedly occurring Jan. 14-17, police said.

Rock star's suicide linked to alcohol

Scottish rock star Stuart Adamson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.279 percent when he committed suicide last month in a hotel room near Honolulu International Airport, an autopsy found.

For comparison, that is more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent established for automobile drivers.

The autopsy on Adamson, listed under his legal name William Stuart Adamson, said he died of asphyxiation from strangulation, said Dr. Kanthi von Guenthner of the city medical examiner's office.

Adamson, lead singer of the 1980s band Big Country, was found Dec. 16 in his room at the Best Western Plaza Hotel near the airport. He had hung himself in the closet.

Suspect released after turning 18

An 'Ewa Beach man arrested as a juvenile for a Nov. 24 Kalihi robbery has turned 18, and his case was waived yesterday by the Family Court for his prosecution as an adult.

The man, who was released pending further investigation, was arrested with a 19-year-old man. They are suspected of accosting a 27-year-old man in the bathroom of Shark's Amusement, a pool hall on North Nimitz Highway, and taking his money. Police said the 19-year-old held a sharp object to the victim's throat while the younger man searched him; both fled with the money when a witness entered.

$25,000 damage in Ha'iku home fire

A two-bedroom house in Ha'iku, Maui, sustained $25,000 in structural damage in a fire Wednesday.

Engine companies from Pa'ia, Makawao and Kahului responded to the 7:16 a.m. alarm. The fire, reported at 411-C W. Kuiaha Road, was extinguished at 8:31 a.m.

Pursuit of driver ruled justified

State officials have cleared the actions of deputy sheriffs whose pursuit of a driver in Mapunapuna last month ended with the driver's death after he fell from the airport viaduct.

Ted Sakai, director of the state Department of Public Safety, said the department's internal affairs office has closed the investigation largely because the autopsy on Melvin Vigilla indicated he had a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit.

The city medical examiner's office listed his blood-alcohol level at 0.185 percent. The legal limit for someone operating a motor vehicle is .08 percent.

In the Dec. 4 incident, the deputies began pursuing Vigilla when he was seen driving erratically. During the chase, he crashed into parked cars and then drove the wrong way on Nimitz Highway, crashing his truck on the freeway offramp. He fell to the highway when trying to leap from the offramp onto the viaduct.