Posted on: Friday, March 28, 2003
Police Beat
Accidents slow traffic on O'ahu
Poor visibility and slick roads from yesterday's wet weather may have been factors in a handful of accidents that snarled traffic along O'ahu's highways.
Police closed the Kane'ohe-bound lanes of Likelike Highway three times yesterday to clear several accidents near the Wilson Tunnel.
Kane'ohe-bound traffic was forced to turn around near the tunnel at 10:45 a.m yesterday after both lanes were blocked by a two-car accident along a sharp turn just outside the Windward side of the tunnel.
No serious injuries were reported, but traffic was backed up to Kalihi at one point.
Police reopened the lanes shortly after noon after clearing the road, but another accident occurred at nearly the same location at 12:30 p.m. The lanes were reopened at 1:45 p.m., but shut down again after a 2:30 p.m. accident involving four vehicles just outside the tunnel.
The lanes were reopened at 3:45 p.m.
A 1:30 p.m. accident along the 'Ewa-bound lanes of the H-1 Freeway near the Pearl City/Waimalu off-ramp shut down two lanes there, causing traffic to back up. No one was seriously injured.
Woman airlifted from cruise ship
A 52-year-old woman was in guarded condition yesterday at the Hilo Medical Center after she was airlifted by the Coast Guard from the cruise ship Norwegian Wind.
Leslie Sylman of Orlando, Fla., was on the Norwegian Wind when she began suffering diabetic symptoms, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said. The ship's agent called the Coast Guard at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday and an HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter was dispatched from Barbers Point at 6:20 a.m. yesterday.
The Norwegian Wind was on its way to Fanning Island when the emergency was declared. The ship was asked to turn back to Hawai'i because the HH-65 has a range of 100 miles.
Sylman was picked up and brought to the Big Island at 10:40 a.m. yesterday.
Crimestoppers Photo released of bank robber
Crimestoppers yesterday published a security camera photo of the man who robbed a Bank of Hawaii branch at 1010 University Ave. at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The suspect is 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10, weighs about 160 pounds and had a goatee. He was wearing a beaded bracelet on his left hand. The man passed a demand note to a teller and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. No weapon was seen, police said.
Anyone with information can call Detective Michael Ogawa at 529-3357 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 and *CRIME on cellular.
Louisiana man dies while surfing
LAHAINA, Maui — Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death of a 48-year-old visitor from Louisiana who died Tuesday while taking surfing lessons.
Police Sgt. Max Kincaid said yesterday the instructor found the man's body at 12:30 p.m. in small surf in shallow waters at Launiupoko, a popular spot for novice surfers. The instructor told authorities he was working with another client when the incident happened, Kincaid said.
Police have not released the visitor's name.
Two arrested on counterfeit charge
Police arrested two people on successive days in Chinatown for allegedly passing counterfeit U.S. currency, but the Secret Service office in Hawai'i said the cases do not appear to be connected.
"We see nothing significant going on with counterfeit currency," said Albert Joaquin, special agent in charge of the local Secret Service office. Joaquin added that an average of $3,000 worth of counterfeit bills are recovered monthly and there has not been a noteworthy increase.
Joaquin noted that the two Chinatown cases appear to be isolated incidents involving computer-generated counterfeits. Printed counterfeits are of greater concern to federal authorities.
The two Chinatown cases involve the passing of $20 and $50 bills. A 30-year-old woman arrested Tuesday for using the $20 fake bill to pay for goods had apparently acquired the bill as payment from an unknown customer, police said.
A man, 61, was arrested for using a counterfeit $50 to pay a food bill Wednesday night.
Mililani home robbed by 3 men
Police were looking for three masked men who fled with an undisclosed amount of cash from a home-invasion robbery yesterday in Mililani.
A 21-year-old man told police he was awakened about 2:15 a.m. yesterday by two men who broke into his Ridgecrest apartment at Waikalani Drive. He said the men's faces were covered by bandanas and that one suspect was carrying two knives and the other a claw hammer and screwdriver, police said.
The men forced the resident to go to his parked car, where a third masked suspect, displaying a black semi-automatic pistol, was waiting, police said. The men took the victim's cellular phone and $200 in cash and ran towards Waipio Valley Community Park.
Crimestoppers released this photo of a man suspected in the robbery of the Bank of Hawaii at University Avenue on Wednesday.
