HAWAII BRIEFS
Police car struck, man arrested
Advertiser Staff
A 40-year-old man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly crashed a stolen pickup truck into a police car near Kane'ohe.
The man, who has 18 prior convictions, had been identified earlier yesterday for allegedly breaking into a car at Kualoa Regional Park. A witness called police and said the man left the park in a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.
Police spotted the truck on Kahekili Highway shortly after noon.
The man pulled over on the right shoulder at the bottom of the big dip on the highway between Kane'ohe and 'Ahui-manu, police said. A police patrol car pulled over about 170 feet in front of the pickup truck.
Police said that as officers approached the man from across the street, ordering him to get out of the truck, the man drove off, crossed the center line and struck the patrol car.
The officer in the car, a nine-year HPD veteran, was treated for minor injuries at Castle Medical Center and released.
The investigation prompted police to close a section of Kahekili Highway between Ha'iku Road and Hui Iwa Street for three hours.
STATE REVENUE GROWTH SLOWING
State revenue collections were up 3.4 percent over last year after the first five months of the fiscal year, the state Department of Taxation reported, but the overall percentage growth continues to drop.
Revenues in November came in at $334.7 million.
General excise and use taxes were at $204.2 million in November, bringing the fiscal year-to-date total to 3.5 percent more than the previous year.
Hotel room taxes were at $17.5 million, a 6.3 percent increase over last year. Individual income taxes were at $93.3 million, up 1.3 percent over last year. Corporate income taxes were off $7.7 million, a 0.7 percent drop from last year through five months.
The state Council on Revenues has projected 5.7 percent revenue growth overall this fiscal year.
The council's next projection will be in early January and will likely influence budget decisions in the upcoming session of the state Legislature.
3 HIKERS RESCUED ON NU'UANU PALI
Firefighters yesterday rescued three men stranded on a steep, slippery mountainside above Old Pali Road.
Personnel from Rescue 1 and the Olomana Fire Station responded to the 11:50 a.m. call for help and brought the hikers down by rope from about 400 feet up the mountain at 2:30 p.m., said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig.
Seelig said rescue efforts were hampered by rainy and gusty conditions combined with loose rocks on the mountainside.
The hikers, ages 19, 21 and 24, used a cell phone to call for help. No injuries were reported.
THEFT OF MEDICAL SERVICES ALLEGED
A $50,000 warrant has been issued for the arrest of Patricia L. Hallmark, who was indicted yesterday by an O'ahu grand jury on charges of stealing $635,000 worth of services from the Hawaii Medical Service Association.
The four-count indictment charged Hallmark with two counts of first-degree theft, one count of second-degree theft, and second-degree forgery for alleged offenses between April 14, 2005, and Aug. 21, 2006.
Hallmark is no longer living in Hawai'i.
She is accused of obtaining medical treatment for Robert Patrick by falsely claiming on medical insurance enrollment forms that he was her husband.