Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
French tourist burned by lava
HILO, Hawai'i — A tourist from France was flown to the burn unit at Straub Clinic & Hospital on O'ahu early today with burns he suffered after falling onto cooling lava.
Guy Bouneau, 55, of St. Gely DuFesse, France, was visiting Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park when he fell onto the lava and sustained first-, second- and third-degree burns to his hands, right forearm and right thigh.
Police said he was taken to the Hilo Medical Center by an acquaintance in his tour group, who also served as an interpreter, and was later flown to Straub, where he was reported in serious condition.
Pair attacked by large group
Police are looking for 20 to 25 people who allegedly attacked two 21-year-old men late Friday night in the parking lot of Whitmore Community Center in Wahiawa.
The two men told police they were attacked by the large group, most of whom were armed with baseball bats and broken beer bottles, at 11:46 p.m. One of them was beaten for five to 10 minutes and suffered a minor stab wound near the left shoulder blade, police said.
Neither victim was seriously injured.
There have been no arrests in the case, which is being investigated as an attempted murder.
3 men sought in Kane'ohe assault
Police have opened an attempted-murder investigation into a complaint by a 35-year-old man who said he was confronted by three armed men late Saturday night in the driveway of a closed flower shop on Kamehameha Highway in Kane'ohe.
The man said he stopped in the driveway at 11:15 p.m. to meet an acquaintance. Three masked men armed with rifles surrounded his car. One them used the butt of a rifle to break into the car from the passenger-side door, the man told police.
Police said one of the men shot at the car, shattering the rear window, as the man drove off.
The suspects are still at large, police said.
Two charged in sexual assaults
Police charged two men Saturday with first-degree sexual assault in unrelated attacks on young girls.
Bradley K. Brown, 37, is charged with nine counts of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, who told police the attacks started when she was eight years old. Brown is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Bernard Orzechauski, also 37, is accused of assaulting an 8-year-old girl on Feb. 24. His bail is $75,000.
Autopsy slated in fatal fire
Police and fire investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy scheduled to be performed on a body recovered at a fire scene Saturday in Wai'alae Iki. Investigators want to establish that no foul play is involved, fire investigator Capt. Glenn Solem said.
The body is believed to be that of an 84-year-old woman who lived in the house.
Solem, meanwhile, has requested lab tests to determine if an electrical short caused the fire that gutted the residence at 1184 Iki Place and damaged a second house.
