Posted on: Friday, January 10, 2003
Police Beat
Care-home operator arrested, released
A former care-home operator was arrested yesterday in connection with the death of a 102-year-old woman last April.
The elderly woman died April 9 at a Waipahu care home. Police described the victim as a patient of the suspect.
Police said the care-home operator, a 59-year-old Waipahu resident, turned herself in to police at 10 a.m. yesterday. She was booked on suspicion of second-degree murder and released pending further investigation. No charges have been filed.
Details of the woman's death and what led police to classify the case as a murder were not available yesterday.
Five charged with drug offenses
Big Island police have charged five people so far with drug offenses following a sweep of drug houses in East Hawai'i on Wednesday.
Charged with various drug offenses were Don Bidal, Andrene L. Menzsa, Sean C. Kobayashi, Samuel Al Flores and Deborah Pascual.
Another suspect has been released pending possible federal charges, and 17 others who were arrested were released pending further investigation, according to police.
In all, police arrested 23 people in the drug sweep of eight suspected drug houses in Puna and Hilo. Dubbed "Operation Meltdown," the effort recovered a total of 10.5 ounces of crystal methamphetamine, 14 ounces of cocaine, 34 marijuana plants, 7 ounces of dried marijuana, various types of prescription drugs and numerous scales, containers, packets and pipes used in drug distribution and consumption.
In addition, police confiscated three rifles, three handguns, various types of ammunition and $6,083 in cash.
Nine people were charged under bench warrants that were unrelated to the drug sweep.
24-year-old indicted in Waikele shooting
An O'ahu grand jury has indicted a 24-year-old man on one count of second-degree murder in connection with a Dec. 15 shooting death in Waikele.
Moses L. Thompson, also known as Marcus L. Thompson, was indicted Wednesday on a charge of possessing a handgun without a license and using a firearm to commit a felony. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
Thompson is accused of shooting Eugene Rios, 31, during a confrontation between Lumi'aina and Waipi'o Uka streets. Rios was shot once in the neck and pronounced dead at St. Francis Medical Center-West. Police said Rios was shot with a semi-automatic weapon during an argument stemming from a traffic altercation.
Navy man killed in Kunia auto crash
Police said speeding appears to have been a factor in a single-car crash early yesterday on Kunia Road that killed a 32-year-old Navy man.
The man was traveling south in a 2000 Mercury Cougar at 1:40 a.m. when the car veered off the roadway near Foote Avenue and hit a boulder. The driver was thrown from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was the third traffic fatality on O'ahu this year.
In an earlier incident, a 27-year-old Wilhelmina Rise man died Tuesday of injuries sustained in a Jan. 4 moped accident. The medical examiner's office said Daryl T. Nakai died at The Queen's Medical Center. He was operating a moped that crashed at Wai'alae Avenue and Elizabeth Street in Kaimuki.
Suspect arrested in Makaha assault
Police arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with a November assault in Makaha that blinded a man in his left eye.
The suspect was arrested at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday and released pending further investigation.
The injured man, 37, had broken up a fight involving the suspect on Nov. 12, police said. At 1:45 a.m., the suspect and another man confronted the victim on the grounds of Makaha Valley Golf Resort. The suspect allegedly punched the victim in the face, rupturing his left eye. The victim suffered loss of sight in the left eye, police said.
Man beaten, robbed at Waipahu bus stop
A 21-year-old man was not seriously injured when he was beaten and robbed by five men Wednesday night while waiting at a bus stop near the Daiei store on Farrington Highway in Waipahu.
The men stole the man's watch and wallet in the 11:30 p.m. incident. The assailants are believed to be 16 and 25 years old. Police arrested two suspects nearby.
The victim told police that he and another man, also 21, were at the bus stop when they were confronted by five people who demanded their wallets and watches. When they refused, the five surrounded the victim, who is more than 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and began beating him. The second man fled and called police.
Lumber spill on H-1 causes traffic tieup
Westbound rush-hour traffic on H-1 Freeway near the Waiawa overpass was disrupted for nearly two hours yesterday morning when a tractor-trailer spilled its load of lumber, forcing the closure of three lanes.
The accident occurred at 7:58 a.m. The cleanup was completed and all lanes reopened at 9:58 a.m.
2 men rob Pukalani gas station, flee
WAILUKU, Maui — Two men held up a Pukalani gas station early yesterday morning and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
The clerk at Pukalani Shell & Car Wash told detectives that one of the men used a small-caliber handgun in the 5 a.m. robbery. The two, both described as having black hair, brown eyes and dark complexions, left the scene in an older-model gray pickup heading downhill on Old Haleakala Highway, said Maui Police Lt. Brian Kaya.
