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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 14, 2003

Police Beat

Advertiser Staff

Arson suspected in 'Ewa Beach

Police have opened a criminal property damage case after investigators determined that a fire that destroyed an 'Ewa Beach home Monday was deliberately set.

Four people were left homeless by the fire that gutted their home at 91-1183 Ka'uiki St. It was reported at 8:06 a.m. and extinguished at 8:54 a.m.

The fire caused more than $160,000 in damage and forced two men and two women to find housing.

Yesterday, fire investigators told police the fire was set intentionally and a first-degree criminal property damage case was opened. No arrests had been made as of yesterday.

A neighbor was treated for smoke inhalation after he attempted to douse the flames with a garden hose.


Maui copter helps fight Moloka'i fire

Firefighters yesterday continued to battle a Moloka'i brush fire that has blackened 1,600 acres and threatened homes in Ho'olehua.

The wind-driven blaze was reported Tuesday at 1:37 p.m. and destroyed one nonresidential structure, fire officials said. Off-duty firefighters and the Maui Department of Fire Control's Air One helicopter have been called in to assist.

The blaze apparently began between Farrington Avenue near Moloka'i High & Intermediate School and Mo'omomi Avenue. The cause is not known.


Four-vehicle crash slows H-1 traffic

Westbound traffic on the H-1 Freeway near the Waipahu off-ramp was snarled for 2 1/2 hours yesterday because of a traffic collision involving four vehicles. No one was seriously injured, but five people were taken to hospitals.

Police said the driver of a military cargo van lost control of the vehicle past the Waipahu off-ramp at 6:15 a.m. The van ended up on its side, causing a rear-end chain-reaction crash.


Lana'i woman fined in tax evasion

A Lana'i woman has been sentenced to five years' probation for under-reporting the rents she received from the tenants of a home she owned in Honolulu.

In addition, Circuit Judge Dan Kochi ordered Leticia Castillo to perform 500 hours of community service by Sept. 1, 2005, and fined her $5,000.

Kochi ordered Castillo to pay at least $150 a month toward the fine.

Castillo pleaded no contest on May 22 to four counts of evading her general excise taxes for 1997 through 2000. Kochi granted Castillo's request to defer her no contest plea. If Castillo stays out of trouble for the next five years, her record will be erased.