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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, August 19, 2008

HAWAII BRIEFS
Restaurant owner admits sex assault

Advertiser Staff

The co-owner of a Kalihi restaurant pleaded guilty yesterday to multiple sex assault charges involving a 14-year-old male victim.

Lyle Nonaka, part-owner of Mitsu-Ken Catering, admitted guilt to three counts of first-degree sex assault, one count of promoting child abuse and two counts of third-degree sex assault.

Nonaka will be sentenced Oct. 22 by Circuit Judge Richard Pollack.

The case was prosecuted by Leilani Tan. Defense lawyer Eric Seitz represented Nonaka.



MAN ARRESTED IN ROAD-RAGE ATTACK

Police arrested a 46-year-old man Sunday for allegedly attacking another man, 23, with a crowbar in what is said to be a road-rage incident on H-1 Freeway near Honolulu International Airport.

The incident was reported to police at 5:20 p.m.

The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment. Passengers in the complainant's vehicle managed to subdue the suspect and hold him for police. The man was booked on suspicion of first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.



SUSPECT IN CRASH SOUGHT ON BIG ISLE

Big Island police are asking for the public's help in finding a person suspected in a fatal single-vehicle crash Jan. 27 in Hilo.

Nivan N. Agres, 23, is wanted on outstanding warrants for first-degree negligent homicide and contempt of court. Police said they believe he is in the Hilo area.

Agres was driving a 1995 Honda east-bound on Kalaniana'ole Avenue when the car went out of control on a curve and hit a utility pole at 6:08 a.m. Jan. 27. A passenger in the car, David H. Young, 25, died Jan. 28 at Hilo Medical Center.

Agres was arrested on suspicion of first-degree negligent homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant, driving while his license was suspended for a previous DUI conviction, and having no auto insurance.

Anyone with information about Agres can call the police department's nonemergency line at 808-935-3311, or Big Island CrimeStoppers at 808-961-8300 in Hilo or 808-329-8181 in Kona.



50-ACRE FIRE ON KAUA'I CONTAINED

A fire in a remote area of Kaua'i's North Shore that consumed 50 acres was contained but still smoldering yesterday afternoon.

A crew of 11 state firefighters were checking the area after a military contractor dropped water on the fire from a helicopter yesterday afternoon, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Debbie Ward said.

"The area is too steep for any effective suppression activity on the ground," Ward said. The ground crew was using hand tools to "mop up" accessible areas.

The Kaua'i Fire Department shuttled about 28 day hikers by inflatable boat from Hanakapi'ai Beach, west of the fire, to Ke'e Beach, which is accessible by the Kuhio Highway.

The rescue of hikers was done after the fire, which may have started Saturday from a campfire, crossed the hiking trail. Hanakapi'ai Beach is reachable only by the Kalalau Trail or by boat.

Croman Corp., a contractor at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua'i, dropped as many as 20 500-gallon buckets of water from a helicopter yesterday to help fight the fire, facility spokesman Tom Clements said.

The Kalalau Trail is closed until the fire is extinguished and the trail assessed, she said.



'EWA MAN CHARGED IN CAR ROBBERY

An 'Ewa man was charged yesterday with kidnapping a couple and forcing them to sign over ownership of their luxury sport utility vehicle to him.

Dodina Lima Toa, 24, was held in lieu of $100,000 bail on charges of second-degree robbery, two counts of kidnapping, auto theft and three outstanding warrants.

Toa allegedly forced his way into a Lincoln Navigator in Waipahu on Saturday about 8:30 a.m., assaulted the occupants — a man, 31, and woman, 29 — and drove the vehicle to a Pearl City storage unit, where he forced the couple to sign over ownership of the vehicle. Toa allegedly also took ownership of a second vehicle from the couple, police said.