Check forgery leads to arrest

Police yesterday arrested a 25-year-old man after he made one too many attempts to cash a check at a Wahiawa bank.

Police said the man went to the bank yesterday morning and tried to cash a check that was payable to himself. A teller noticed that the account holder's signature had been altered and because she could not contact the account holder, she declined to cash the check.

After the man left the bank, the teller contacted her supervisor who used a computer to find that the man had cashed three other checks on the same account earlier in the week.

Police said the bank then contacted the account holder who said he never signed any of the checks in question and that they had been stolen from him.

The man who had attempted to cash the check earlier in the day returned to the bank about 1 p.m. and tried again to cash it. Police were called and arrested the man on suspicion of second-degree forgery.

HONOLULU

Suspect charged with sex assault

Authorities have charged a 38-year-old Honolulu man with fourth-degree sexual assault in connection with a Dec. 1 incident in which a 58-year-old woman said she was startled by a naked man as she left a parking garage at 830 Punchbowl St.

Francis K.S. Kim, of a Richards Street address, was charged last night with the misdemeanor offense and was released on $1,000 bail.

Investigators said Kim is also a suspect in a series of similar incidents that took place earlier this month.

Police seek help in solving death

CrimeStoppers and the Ho-nolulu Police Department's Homicide Detail are asking the public's assistance in the investigation of the death of Jaime Pablico-Davis.

Pablico-Davis, 20, was reported missing Friday. Family members last saw her in the downtown area Dec. 3. Police especially want to talk to anyone who may have had contact with her after this date.

Her body was found Saturday at 58-160 Kamehameha Highway near the UH experimental farm.

Calls are being taken directly by Detective Kathy Osmond at 529-3080. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or call *CRIME on your cellular phone.

Pablico-Davis was of Caucasian-Japanese-Filipino ancestry, 5 feet tall, 95 pounds, slim build with long brown hair, brown eyes and tan complexion. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, short denim overalls and black slippers.

CrimeStoppers will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect.

WINDWARD

Officer attacked during an arrest

A Honolulu police officer suffered minor injuries when he was attacked by two men while attempting to arrest one of them in Waimanalo yesterday.

The plainclothes officer was investigating an auto-theft case when he found a 27-year-old suspect at a Waimanalo home about 4:15 p.m. When the officer attempted to arrest the man, police said, the suspect resisted and the two began to struggle.

Police said another man then grabbed the officer, allowing the first man to beat him. Other officers arrived at the scene and subdued the 27-year-old.

Police said the other man, 42, fled. Both men face charges of assaulting a police officer.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Kumu hula faces charges in death

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island grand jury has indicted kumu hula Rae Fonseca on a charge of first-degree negligent homicide in a crash last year that killed a Big Island man.

Fonseca also was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant at the time of the Dec. 13, 2003, collision in the Eden Roc Estates subdivision, according to the indictment.

Fonseca, who leads Halau Hula 'O Kahikilaulani of Hilo, is generally identified in news accounts as Ray Fonseca.

Police said Michael R. Spens of Mountain View was riding his moped east on Pala'inui Street shortly before 7:20 p.m. when he collided with a vehicle driven by Fonseca, 51, also of Mountain View. Spens died the next day at Hilo Medical Center.

Kaua'i police ask for public's help

Kaua'i police are asking for the public's help in obtaining information about a fight on Dec. 9 that resulted in the death of a 62-year-old Puhi man.

Officers were sent to Wilcox Memorial Hospital about 5 p.m. following a report about a possible assault at a Puhi home. They learned that a man had been brought to the hospital with head injuries and believe the injured man was the victim of an assault.

Frank Yoro, found badly injured in his home by police, died the next day. Police arrested a man but later released him pending further investigation.