Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Eight girl escapees remain at large
Honolulu police and the state Office of Youth Services are asking the public's help in finding eight girls who escaped from the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility at 42-477 Kalaniana'ole Highway at about noon Saturday.
Ten girls escaped, but two have been caught.
The 10 girls overpowered two security guards, ripping phone wires from the wall and taking guard radios and keys before fleeing, police said. Their escape van was recovered on Keolu Drive in Kailua.
All were wearing blue uniforms. A 15-year-old was arrested Sunday and a 16- year-old Monday.
Anyone with information about the eight may call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Judge approves disqualification
A state judge yesterday approved the disqualification of a Republican candidate for state House who is also an employee of Linda Lingle's gubernatorial campaign.
James Hardway's disqualification leaves Democratic incumbent Rep. Kenneth Hiraki unopposed in the new 28th District representing downtown Honolulu.
Hardway's attorney, Shelton Jim On, and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Schulaner told Circuit Judge Richard Pollack that they had reached an agreement for the disqualification, eliminating a need for a hearing into a complaint brought by a Hiraki supporter.
Jim On said the agreement resulted from Hardway's announcement last Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race to keep the dispute from hurting the Republican Party or its candidates.
Schulaner said Hardway's address listed on an Aug. 2 voter registration form apparently was not where he was living but where he intended to move.
On the issue of Hardway's using a Nu'uanu Avenue address when he signed to help meet a requirement for the 15 registered voters in the House district, Jim On said his client believed he could use his registered voter address, even though he no longer lived there.
Suspicious parcel causes mass tie-up
A suspicious envelope at the Kalanimoku Building shut down one of the busiest streets in downtown Honolulu for more than two hours during yesterday afternoon's peak traffic, but tests on the sealed envelope did not show any signs of explosives or chemicals.
Firefighters were called to the state building at 1151 Punchbowl St. at 2:15 p.m. after workers deemed the labeling and return address on the padded envelope to be "suspicious," according to Fire Department Capt. Richard Soo.
The section of Punchbowl Street was reopened after 5 p.m.
The Honolulu police bomb squad used its robot to carry the package into the driveway of the basement parking. X-rays and tests on the envelope turned up negative, and the package was sent to state health officials for further examination.
Maui bus kills pedestrian, 92
KAHULUI, Maui — A 92-year-old man killed yesterday when he was struck by a bus has been identified as Koichi Ito of Kahului.
Ito was in a crosswalk at the intersection of Kaulawahine Street and West Kamehameha Avenue when he was struck at 6:37 a.m. by a bus traveling on West Kamehameha. He was pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center at 7:05 a.m.
Maui traffic investigators have not determined whether speed or alcohol were factors in the accident.
The fatality is Maui County's 12th of the year compared with 16 on the same date last year.
