POLICE BEAT
Man, 28, dies after jump at waterfall
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i County Fire Department divers yesterday recovered the body of a 28-year-old Hilo man from a pond on Old Mamalahoa Highway in Onomea.
The man was identified by police as Andrew Wright.
According to a Fire Department report, witnesses said Wright reportedly jumped from a waterfall ledge about 85 feet above the pond and did not surface. Two bystanders went into the water but could not locate the body.
Firefighters responded at 6:22 a.m. to an area downstream of the "12-Ton Bridge" and three rescue specialists with SCUBA equipment, who were dropped into the pond by helicopter, recovered Wright's body.
TWO LOST HIKERS ON BIG ISLAND FOUND
Two lost hikers were located at 9:08 a.m. yesterday by Big Island fire rescue specialists in the forested area off Captain's Trail in the Volcano district.
A Fire Department news release said the two men and a dog were lifted out of the area by helicopter and did not require medical treatment.
On Saturday, the hikers reportedly went around a barricade indicating the South Glenwood Road "Captain's Trail" was closed to public use. The hikers were believed to have a cell phone, but because it is a rain forest area, no reception is available.
Firefighters suspended the search Saturday at 8:30 p.m. because of darkness. They resumed searching at 6:30 a.m. yesterday.
SUSPECT ESCAPES FROM MAUI PRISON
A 45-year-old man awaiting trial for second-degree theft escaped last night from the Maui Community Correctional Center.
Gary Stephen Arrojo's escape was reported at 7:12 p.m. and he was still at large three hours later. According to a preliminary police report, Arrojo scaled an inner fence by climbing on top of a building and jumping over the fence. He escaped through the outer fence by going under it, police said.
State Public Safety spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said an inmate who saw the escape reported it to officers. Arrojo was last seen on foot, headed toward Maui Memorial Park.
Arrojo has been at the facility in lieu of $5,000 bail since May 11 for felony shoplifting, according to police. His criminal record includes 19 prior convictions, five of them for felonies.
25 ARRESTED FOR DUI IN 7 HOURS
Honolulu police arrested 25 people suspected of driving under the influence of an intoxicant Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Bail for three repeat offenders — Roly Agmata Gano, 48; Edward Jennings MacNaughton, 38; and Freirick Susaia, 40 — is $1,000 each while bail for the others arrested is $500 apiece.
The stepped-up enforcement campaign is part of a national safe-driving initiative to cut down traffic deaths from the Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, which has been described as the "101 deadliest days of summer." Officials say more traffic deaths occur during this period than at any other time during the year.
The death of a 30-year-old man killed in a car crash early Saturday on the North Shore marked O'ahu's 17th fatality of 2008. The Honolulu medical examiner's office yesterday declined to release a name until the man's identity is confirmed.
As of today, 44 people have died in traffic accidents this year in Hawai'i, compared with 56 by this date in 2007.
