Posted on: Saturday, May 25, 2002

Police Beat

Three arrested in man's stabbing

Three men were arrested yesterday in connection with a stabbing in Waikiki that left a 22-year-old man hospitalized at The Queen's Medical Center.

Police said the victim is in stable condition; a hospital spokeswoman said police have asked that no further updates be released.

The attack, which police believe was unprovoked, began at 12:35 a.m. on 'Ena Road when the victim and four friends were walking down the street.

Witnesses said the three suspects, one 36 and two 25 years old, were on the opposite side of the street when the older one, allegedly drunk, shouted profanities at the victim's group.

The victim and friends kept walking, according to police, when the older man ran across the street, followed by the other two, and allegedly stabbed the victim in the neck.

Police said fighting broke out and the three suspects allegedly ran away, pursued by the victim's friends. A witness called police officers, who found the suspects and their pursuers on Kaio'o Drive and arrested the three suspects.

They remained in police custody yesterday pending further investigation into possible attempted murder charges.

Charges brought in Big Isle chase

Big Island police have filed 14 charges against a 24-year-old man driving a stolen truck who led officers on a chase from Puna to Kona Wednesday before he overturned the vehicle and was arrested.

Louis Alani III was being held yesterday in Kona police cellblock in lieu of $10,700 bail.

The charges include auto theft and second-degree assault as well as traffic and property damage offenses, police said.

Dead paraglider identified

The man who died Wednesday in a Big Island paragliding accident has been identified as Paul S. Reifsnyder of Des Plaines, Ill. He was 43.

Reifsnyder had taken off from a hillside above Captain Cook and landed on a rocky hillside about a half-mile away, said fire Capt. Charles Cope. Reifsnyder got up, complained of pain in the right side of his chest and collapsed.

When firefighters arrived about 2 p.m., bystanders had already begun CPR. The man never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at Kona Hospital at 2:38 p.m.