POLICE BEAT
Hilo man killed in four-car crash
Advertiser Staff
HILO, Hawai'i — A 26-year old Hilo man died yesterday in a four-car collision on Hawai'i Belt Road in 'O'okala, police said.
Police closed the highway between the 28- and 29-mile markers for hours to clean up the wreckage.
Police said a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Daniel Drapesa, 21, was traveling east shortly before 5:15 a.m. when it crossed the centerline of the roadway as he entered the Ka'awali'i Gulch and struck three westbound vehicles.
Drapesa, of Hilo, first struck a Ford Ranger pickup operated by Shannon Wejrowski, 32, of Hilo.
Drapesa's vehicle then struck a 2004 Toyota Tacoma pickup operated by Chris Kauwe, 26, of Hilo, and finally hit a 1994 Honda sedan driven by Matthew Appleton, 29, of Volcano.
Kauwe was transported to Hilo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 9:22 a.m., police said.
Drapesa, Wejrowski, and Appleton were also transported to the Hilo Medical Center where they were treated and released.
Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation, and are trying to determine if speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
Anyone with information about the collision is asked to contact officer Wendall Carter at 961-2232.
Yesterday's death was the 35th traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, compared with 29 for the same time last year.
Big Island hiker rescued after fall
HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island Fire Department crew on a helicopter rescued a 32-year-old hiker yesterday morning after he fell 30 feet down a waterfall along the Waipi'o to Waimanu Trail and broke his arm.
Fire officials received the call for help at 9:38 a.m., and located the hiker at the bottom of the waterfall.
Fire officials said the hiker suffered cuts to his head along with the arm injury.
Police arrest car theft suspect
A man was arrested on suspicion of car theft and unlawfully entering a motor vehicle following an incident Monday in Wahiawa.
Police said a witness told a patrol officer near Kamehameha Highway and California Avenue about a possible stolen car. A computer check verified the car had been stolen, police said.
The officer attempted to detain a suspect in the case, but the man ran away, police said.
The fleeing man got into a car that had stopped at an intersection and told the surprised driver to leave the area, but the driver refused. The man then jumped out of the car, but took the driver's cell phone with him.
Additional police officers responding to the incident caught up with the man and arrested him, police said. No one was injured during the incident.
Two shot in Ma'ili scuffle
Two men were taken to The Queen's Medical Center yesterday morning for treatment of minor gunshot wounds after they were involved in a fracas shortly after midnight in Ma'ili.
Police said a Windward O'ahu man called up another man in Ma'ili and told him he was going to beat him up.
Police said the man in Ma'ili is the boyfriend of a woman who recently ended a relationship with the Windward man.
Several Windward O'ahu men showed up in Ma'ili shortly after midnight and shots were fired, police said. A fistfight followed.
