A 41-year-old man died at Castle Medical Center after being pulled from waters off the Mokulua Islands in Lanikai yesterday morning, according to the city Medical Examiner's Office.

The apparent drowning victim has been identified as Edwin Roberts of Honolulu, officials said. An ambulance was called at 9 a.m. in response to a reported possible drowning, said Bryan Cheplic, Emergency Medical Services spokesman.

GRAFFITI SUSPECT PLEADS GUILTY

A 19-year-old Waipahu man pleaded guilty yesterday to two felony charges of spray-painting graffiti and damaging two highway signs last year.

Webster Agudong pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal property damage, which carries a prison term of up to five years.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto scheduled sentencing for Sept. 26.

City Deputy Prosecutor Franklin Pacarro Jr. said the charges are felonies because the damage to each reflective sign was more than $1,500.

He said the damage was $2,972 for one sign on H-1 Freeway near Waikele, and $2,239 for the other on Farrington Highway near Waipahu High School.

2 MALES SOUGHT IN ROBBERY OF STORE

Police were looking for two men for the knifepoint robbery Thursday of the Airport Chevron Mini-Mart at 2604 Waiwai Loop.

The cashier let two men into the store about 12:55 a.m., police said. One man started a conversation while the other man went behind the counter, police said.

The second man pulled a knife, held it to the cashier's throat and demanded that he open the cash register, police said. The first man took cash from the register while the man with the knife beat the cashier, police said.

Both men were described as being in their early 20s and are 160 to 170 pounds. One is 5 feet 6 inches and the other 5 feet 10 inches. Both wore white T-shirts, dark shorts, white sneakers and dark-colored baseball caps.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or *CRIME on a cell phone. Free cellular calls are provided by Cingular, Nextel Hawaii, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless Hawaii.

KAYAKERS RESCUED OFF NA PALI COAST

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Fire rescue crews used a personal watercraft and an inflatable boat yesterday to rescue two kayakers who were trapped in a Na Pali Coast cave, where a wave capsized their craft.

The 41-year-old O'ahu woman and her 15-year-old niece were trapped on the rocks at the back of "Two-Door Cave" late yesterday morning. The two, who suffered minor injuries in the incident, were brought out of the cave on a jet-powered watercraft and transferred to the inflatable. They were delivered to Kalalau Beach, where they rejoined their kayak-camping tour.

"We were dealing with hazardous conditions. It was rough, with waves breaking 2 to 3 feet. It was amazing that they only got a few scratches from the incident," said county Ocean Safety Bureau supervisor Kalani Vierra, who participated in the rescue with firefighter Timothy Terrazas and lifeguards Christopher Piko and Christopher Simpson on a jet-powered watercraft. They arrived at the scene about 12:30 p.m.

2 FUNDRAISERS FOR CANCER SOCIETY

Teams will raise money to fight cancer during two American Cancer Society Relay For Life events that start today and conclude tomorrow at Magic Island and at Mililani High School's athletic field.

The Magic Island event runs from 7 tonight through 7 a.m. tomorrow. The Mililani High School relay begins at noon today and finishes at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Team members take turns running or walking, camping out or playing carnival games. In Hawai'i, an estimated 5,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to the American Cancer Society in Hawai'i.

Organizers expect former and current cancer patients, their families, businesses and military members to participate.

FIRE EXTINGUISHED NEAR KA'ENA POINT

The first major brushfire of the year, which charred more than 1,000 acres since Wednesday night near Ka'ena Point, was extinguished yesterday, a fire official said.

"A flyover by the battalion chief showed the fire is contained and more or less extinguished," fire Capt. Sigmund Oka said.

Oka said firefighters monitored the area yesterday to prevent the fire from flaring up again, and that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is expected to send "a small crew" into the area to check on things.