SUV driver hits, kills pedestrian

Police arrested a 30-year-old Waianae woman yesterday for investigation of negligent homicide after a sport utility vehicle she was driving hit and killed a man walking on a Nanakuli sidewalk.

Marcela Guerrero Mercado was released pending further investigation.

Police said a 2005 Chevy SUV traveling toward Waianae veered off Farrington Highway and onto the sidewalk near Haleakala Avenue yesterday at about 4:15 a.m. The vehicle hit a 40-year-old Waianae man, who sustained fatal injuries.

Speeding may also have been a factor, police said.

The driver and a 21-year-old man also in the vehicle were taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition. The woman was released; the man was in stable condition, police said.

Police initially said alcohol may have been a factor, though the driver was not booked for driving under the influence.

Forty-five people have died on Oahu roads this year, compared to 41 at this time last year.

Dispute leads to stabbing in Kalihi

A 27-year-old man who became upset with a 22-year-old woman over "items being used in the kitchen," police said, stabbed her yesterday morning in Kalihi.

The man, of no local address, stabbed her with something sharp at about 3:25 a.m., police said.

Family members intervened and detained the man. Police were called and officers arrested the man in the 1500 block of Linapuni Street on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder.

The woman was treated at the hospital and was in stable condition, police said.

Blazes prompt arson investigation

Police have opened three fourth-degree arson cases after several suspicious wildfires in Waipio.

Police Lt. Lisa Mann said detectives are investigating because the fires are of suspicious origin, but said that even if they find out what happened, it may not necessarily lead to criminal charges.

"It’s not always a crime," she said.

A 2-acre fire burned Thursday on land slated for the Koa Ridge residential development, a 5-acre fire burned about a half-mile from the first site on Wednesday, and a 5-acre fire burned Oct. 2 in the same area as Thursday’s fire.

Bank workers thwart ID theft attempt

Alert bank employees helped police catch an identity theft suspect Friday after he tried to withdraw cash with a stolen check in Waianae, police said.

The 30-year-old Salt Lake man, posing as an account holder, entered the bank at Waianae Mall about 1:30 p.m. Friday and deposited personal and business checks into an account, police said.

He produced an ID with the account holder’s name and said he wanted cash back, police said.

Bank employees recognized the man from a security alert and called police.

When officers arrived, the man tried to flee without the checks and ID, police said.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of three counts of second-degree forgery, two counts of second-degree identity theft, two counts of unauthorized possession of confidential information, and second-degree theft.

Lost Mount Kaala hikers rescued

Firefighters rescued a couple in their 30s Friday night after they got lost while hiking on Mount Kaala on Schofield Barracks.

The two called for help at 7:27 p.m. and were able to relay their position to firefighters by cell phone, telling them when a fire helicopter was directly above them, said Honolulu fire Capt. Earle Kealoha.

Rescue firefighters then hiked in for about 45 minutes and found the couple in a ravine about 9:21 p.m., Kealoha said. No one was injured.