An 8-year-old boy arrested yesterday at a Kalihi elementary school on suspicion of assaulting a classmate has been released pending further investigation.

Child Protective Services will set up counseling for the boy and is also investigating family members, police said.

The boy is accused of dragging a girl, 8, into a restroom, holding her down and assaulting her Friday during recess. The boy was booked for kidnapping and third-degree sex assault.

Man struck with hammer in fight

A 25-year-old man was struck in the back today with a small hammer during a 4:30 a.m. confrontation over a traffic dispute involving seven people in two cars at McCully and Metcalf streets. The man was treated at The Queen's Medical Center and released, police said.

The other people left before police arrived.

Charges filed in push over ledge

A 51-year-old man was charged yesterday with pushing a man over a ledge at the Diamond Head Lookout. Richardo Carlito Amaya Jr. is charged with second-degree attempted murder and is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The 42-year-old man who was punched in the face and pushed over the ledge Sunday night fell 50 feet but escaped serious injury because his fall was broken by shrubs, police said.

Irrigation-ditch crash kills driver

A 19-year-old man was killed yesterday when he apparently crashed his all-terrain vehicle into an irrigation ditch on private property near Waialua Intermediate & High School. The medical examiner's office today identified the victim as Roosebelt Pascual of Waialua.

Pascual was last seen riding the ATV at 4:30 p.m. His family began searching for Pascual when he failed to return. They found his body and his vehicle in an irrigation ditch eight-tenths of a mile from Farrington Highway at 8 p.m., police said.

An autopsy was scheduled today to determine cause of death.

Police probe two incidents

Police yesterday investigated two attempted murders involving a stabbing in Mililani and shooting in Makaha.

A 37-year-old man stabbed in the abdomen at a bus stop last night on Kamehameha Highway and Lanikuhana Avenue is in critical condition at The Queen's Medical Center, police said. The man went to his ex-wife's home at 9:40 p.m. and told her he had been stabbed.

No one was hurt in the Makaha shooting, which occurred shortly before 7 p.m. near Makaha Valley and Kaulawaha roads.