Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
HONOLULU
Freeway crash leaves two critical
Two men were in critical condition yesterday after an early morning traffic crash on the Moanalua Freeway.
About 3:45 a.m., a 19-year-old Pearl Harbor man, driver of a 2002 Toyota 4-Runner headed westbound on the freeway, suddenly veered across the road near the Ala Kapuna Street overpass. A 24-year-old Pearl Harbor man was his front-seat passenger.
The car went up an embankment and into a tree, police said. The vehicle was so badly damaged that police were unable to determine afterward whether the men had been wearing seat belts.
The driver suffered multiple facial injuries, a broken left leg, an injured right leg and bruising to the torso. The passenger had internal head injuries, a broken right arm and injuries to his left hip.
Both men were taken by ambulance to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. Police suspect speed was a factor in the case.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Drowned man identified
Police identified an apparent drowning victim at a remote Moloka'i beach as Scott Clay, 36, of Tucson, Ariz.
Clay had gone to Papohaku Beach Park with his wife and child on Friday, Sgt. Eugene Santiago said. Clay went swimming while his family stayed on the beach; his wife saw him floating face-down in the water about 15 minutes later.
A fire-rescue crew and paramedics sent to the scene were unable to revive Clay, Maui County Assistant Fire Chief Gordon Cordeiro said.
The ocean was relatively calm, with 2- to 3-foot swells and light winds, Santiago said. However, area waters are subject to strong undertow and Clay may not have been familiar with ocean conditions.
Big Island escapee found
A prison escapee on the Big Island is back behind bars after being captured in a house in Hilo.
Raylad Hauole Brown, 25, was found Friday, the day after he escaped from the Hale Nani Correctional Facility, police said.
Officers were alerted by residents in the area of East Puainako Street who reported a man matching Brown's description running through neighborhood yards.
Responding police noticed a screen and several window louvers had been removed from the house. They investigated and found Brown inside and arrested him.
Team retrieves wrecked plane
The wreckage from a fatal single-engine plane crash was recovered Saturday on Moloka'i.
The wreckage was bundled by a recovery team that rappelled down to the crash site at about the 1,500-foot level on Manuahi Ridge.
The National Transportation Safety Board said its initial investigation into the cause of the crash turned up nothing out of the ordinary. The cockpit of the Cessna 172 flown by Chezray Hayes of Mililani, was destroyed by fire, the NTSB said.
Hayes was making his first solo interisland flight from O'ahu to Maui when the crash occurred Jan. 25.
