Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
HONOLULU
Rescuers find missing swimmer
A man who went for an ocean swim early yesterday morning but was unable to make it back to shore was rescued by Honolulu Fire Department helicopter after being in the water more than seven hours.
Russell Saito, 22, of the Big Island, said he had intended to swim for only about 15 minutes when he went into the water at Sandy Beach about 1 a.m.
"I had no idea the current was that strong, and it pulled me out," said Saito, who attends the University of California-Berkeley.
Saito said he was swept into a cove near the Halona Blow Hole, and was unable to make his way out because of the current, so he just kept floating and swimming.
"As the hours progressed, it actually got easier to swim, because I just turned everything in my mind off," he said.
Saito's girlfriend reported him missing at 1:45 a.m., and firefighters searched until 4:15 a.m. The search resumed at dawn, and Saito was spotted from the helicopter about 8:15 a.m., HFD spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said.
Saito was exhausted, but uninjured.
Police plan DUI checkpoints
Honolulu police will set up DUI checkpoints at unannounced times and locations through the New Year's weekend.
Police had arrested 31 men and three women on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant from last week Wednesday through early yesterday. Twenty-three of the arrests occurred in the metropolitan Honolulu patrol district.
From January through November, police arrested 2,069 people for driving under the influence compared with 2,017 for the same period in 2002, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Jean Motoyama.
HECO plans helicopter work
Hawaiian Electric Co. is advising residents that it will be using helicopters from 9 to 11 a.m. tomorrow to remove equipment from Wa'ahila Ridge. The flights will originate from Wiliwili Ridge above Wai'alae Iki and remove construction equipment used to install new utility poles recently.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man found dead at foot of cliff
A 50-year-old man reported missing from a vacation home on Maui was found dead yesterday at the base of a 300-foot cliff.
Maui Fire Capt. Alan Pascua said the man had been staying at the house at Huelo Point with about 10 family members who had gathered there from O'ahu, the Mainland and Europe.
The family last saw the man at about midnight. They called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. Because the area is known for its treacherous cliffs along the shoreline, firefighters and a helicopter were dispatched immediately.
The man was discovered at the bottom of the cliff directly in front of the vacation house. A rescue crew brought him up at 11:20. Maui police are investigating.
CENTRAL O'AHU
Man charged in knife attack
A 30-year-old man was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly attacking three people with a kitchen knife Sunday.
William Dewitt is accused of repeatedly stabbing his girlfriend, 32, at her Ho'omalolo Street home in Pearl City. The woman was in critical but stable condition, police said. The woman's brother was stabbed in the back and her mother, 55, suffered cuts to her hands.
