Posted on: Sunday, October 6, 2002

Police Beat

Two apparent drownings on O'ahu

The body of a 47-year-old man was found floating in the waters near Makapu'u Beach yesterday morning, Fire Department Capt. Richard Soo said yesterday.

An autopsy will be conducted tomorrow to determine the cause of death.

Soo said the man was fishing with his wife and another woman, and apparently went into the water to check on equipment. Shortly before 11 a.m., the second woman noticed him floating in the choppy waters.

Soo said lifeguards reached the man on a jet-powered watercraft and performed CPR. He was transported by helicopter to the Makapu'u Beach parking area, where an Emergency Medical Service team was unable to revive him.

The O'ahu Medical Examiner pronounced the man dead shortly after noon, Soo said.

Later that afternoon, rescue crews were called to Hanauma Bay, where a 69-year-old man from Michigan was discovered floating in the water.

Paramedics took the man to The Queen's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

2 men sought in purse snatchings

Honolulu police are looking for two men involved in a purse snatching Sept. 24 in the 3200 block of Catherine Street in Kaimuki.

Police say a man jumped from a hedge and robbed a 29-year-old woman early that evening, hitting and kicking her.

The man fled in a stolen 2001 black Nissan truck, Hawai'i license plate JRG969, driven by a second man. The same vehicle was used in a tourist purse snatching at Atkinson and Kona streets Sept. 15. The truck had been stolen in a Kailua residential burglary on July 7.

The attacker is described as a man in his 20s, 5 feet 10 to 6 feet 2, about 200 pounds and husky with a dark complexion. He was wearing a white knit hat, white long-sleeved T-shirt, white jeans and was barefoot. The driver is described as a man in his 20s.

Call Detective Eric Yiu at 529-3436. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

Motorcyclist badly injured in crash

A 26-year-old woman was seriously injured yesterday morning after she lost control of her motorcycle and slammed into the northbound guardrail at Kamehameha Highway and Hau'ula Homestead Road, police said.

The accident occurred around 11:40 a.m. The Kahuku-bound lane was closed and traffic rerouted on the southbound lane. The road was opened again after 2:30 p.m.

She was in critical condition at The Queen's Medical Center.