Prosecutors yesterday charged a 71-year-old in the stabbing of his wife early Wednesday morning at their Waipahu home.

Marcial R. Aguilar was arrested at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday at his Pupukoa'e Street home for investigation of attempted second-degree murder but he was later charged with two counts of second-degree assault. Aguilar's bail is $11,000 pending an initial appearance today at District Court.

Aguilar's wife, 70, was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife. She was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition and she has since improved, police said.

BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT IN COURT

A Ka'anapali man accused of four recent Maui bank robberies made his initial court appearance yesterday.

James C. Thobe, 47, is charged with first-degree robbery in connection with holdups of two American Savings Bank branches and Territorial Savings and First Hawaiian locations in West Maui. Thobe is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Police said Thobe was arrested Tuesday at a Ka'anapali condominium after identifying him as a suspect from information received on the moped he used as a getaway vehicle after Monday's robbery of the ASB branch on Papalaua Street in Lahaina.

In all the robberies, Thobe allegedly displayed a small box containing wires and electrical tape in making his robbery demands to tellers.

KALIHI HIT-RUN VICTIM IDENTIFIED

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office yesterday identified a pedestrian who died from injuries suffered in a hit-and-run accident June 4 in Kalihi as Bonifacio Libosado Sr., 79.

Police vehicular homicide investigators said Libosado was struck about 9 p.m. June 4 by a light-colored sport utility vehicle driven by a man with spiky hair. The SUV, which had paper license plates, drove off after hitting Libosado, who was crossing Dillingham Boulevard outside of a crosswalk.

After being hit by the SUV, Libosado was run over by a 2001 Dodge Neon and dragged about 30 feet. The Neon driver remained at the scene.

Libosado died at The Queen's Medical Center on June 5 at 12:51 a.m. His name was not released until his identity was confirmed by fingerprints.

The driver of the SUV was still at large last night, police said.

On Tuesday, 84-year-old pedestrian Florence Tamura was killed in an accident in Kahala.

Pedestrians have accounted for six of O'ahu's 20 fatalities in 2008. By comparison, O'ahu's fatality count on this date in 2007 was 36, with 12 of them pedestrians.

2 HELD IN SEPARATE SEX ASSAULT CASES

Police yesterday arrested a 36-year-old Salt Lake man and a 19-year-old Wahiawa man in separate sex assault investigations involving juvenile females.

The Salt Lake man was arrested at 11:40 a.m. on the 2300 block of Kamehameha Avenue in Manoa and booked for investigation of first-degree sex assault, three counts of third-degree sex assault and one count of promoting pornography to a minor. All are felony offenses.

The alleged assaults, involving a 15-year-old girl, occurred March 30 from 11 p.m. to midnight.

The Wahiawa man is under investigation for first-degree sex assault and three counts of third-degree sex assault.

He was arrested on Kahelu Avenue at 1:10 p.m. yesterday. The assault allegedly occurred against an 8-year-old girl prior to Nov. 13, 2007, police said. The case was reported to police after the victim and her family moved to the Mainland.

WANTED HAU'ULA MAN IN CUSTODY

A Hau'ula man wanted on four contempt warrants totaling $86,800 was charged yesterday with allegedly robbing a woman at knifepoint on May 28.

Tommy Penrod Reid Leota, 48, was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the main police station cellblock for first-degree robbery and the warrants, which stem from his failure to appear for felony sentencing.

Leota's initial court appearance is today at District Court.

Leota was arrested by HPD Strategic Enforcement Detail personnel on the warrants Tuesday at Hau'ula Beach Park at 7:30 p.m.

According to an affidavit filed at District Court, Leota's estranged girlfriend told police Leota went to a Kalaheo Hillside home on 'Iliwahi Loop where she was staying with a friend, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her and their unborn child if she did not give him money.

Leota allegedly left with $200 and the woman's cell phone.

Leota's criminal record includes eight criminal convictions, seven of them for felonies. The felonies include third-degree promoting a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia, promotion of prison contraband, kidnapping, sodomy and a 1980 armed robbery.