Posted on: Wednesday, March 2, 2005
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Two killed in Kunia car crash
Advertiser Staff
Two people were killed and one critically injured in a two-vehicle collision last night in Kunia.
The accident occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on Kunia Road, two miles north of the Royal Kunia subdivision and near the Hawai'i Country Club. Fire department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane said a car hit a tanker truck.
A male and a female were taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West, where they were pronounced dead. A man was flown by medevac helicopter to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition.
Police closed Kunia Road from Anonui Street to the Lyman Gate at Schofield Barracks while they conducted their investigation.
Motorcyclist, 35, killed in collision
HILO, Hawai'i — A 35-year-old Hilo man died Monday after his motorcycle struck a car on Ainaola Drive in the Waiakea-uka area of Hilo, police said.
Police said Aaron Sampaga was riding a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle west on Ainaola Drive when he collided with a 2002 Volkswagen four-door sedan making a left turn from Kaulike Street onto Ainaola Drive.
The driver of the Volkswagen, a 43-year-old Hilo woman, was not injured in the 2:35 p.m. collision, police said.
Sampaga was pronounced dead at the Hilo Medical Center. Police said speed is considered to be a factor. It was the ninth traffic fatality on the Big Island this year.
HILO, Hawai'i — A 42-year-old Pahoa man has been charged with firearms offenses and reckless endangering after he allegedly fired a weapon in Leilani Estates.
Police said Michael R. Kapika was arrested Sunday after officers responded to a report of gunshots fired in the Puna subdivision. Officers said they found Kapika walking on the roadway holding a shotgun, which he quickly dropped before surrendering.
He was charged with fire-arms offenses and was being held in the Hilo police cellblock yesterday in lieu of $3,500 bail, police said.
HILO, Hawai'i — A 43-year-old Hilo man has been charged with kidnapping and sexual assault after a woman reported she was attacked in the Kulani area on Feb. 21.
Derek A. Wong was charged with kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree sexual assault and abuse of a family or household member, police said.
The victim, who knew her attacker, told police she was taken to the secluded Kulani area where she was threatened with a sharp instrument, and physically and sexually assaulted.
She told police that she later duped Wong into letting her go alone into a Hilo convenience store to get food while he waited in his vehicle. Once inside she used a telephone to call for help, and Wong fled, she said.
Wong was arrested Saturday evening, and was being held in the Hilo police cellblock yesterday in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Big Island Mayor Harry Kim is proposing a record $277 million county budget for the year beginning July 1, and is recommending staff increases for a number of county agencies.
Kim's annual submittal to the County Council proposes a spending increase of almost 13 percent over spending for this fiscal year.
In his budget message to the council, Kim said property tax collections are expected to increase by almost 16 percent in the coming year despite three measures the council has approved to cut property taxes.
BIG ISLAND
Pahoa man faces weapons charges
Suspect held in abduction, assault
Record $277 million budget proposed
