Suspected leak prompts evacuations

Firefighters evacuated about 30 people yesterday from Makiki Library and lower Makiki District Park after a suspected chemical leak in a pool equipment room.

Police also closed Keeaumoku Street about 8:30 a.m. in both directions between Wilder Avenue and Kinau Street as six fire companies blocked the roadway and a fire hose was connected to a hydrant across the street, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Terry Seelig.

Firefighters responded to a report of smoke about 8:20 a.m. and determined there was no active fire, Seelig said. But smoke coming from a room containing chemicals led firefighters to suspect there may have been a chemical release.

The library users and people using the courts had to be evacuated as a precaution, Seelig said.

A hazardous-material company eventually found the smoke came from a burned-out water pump in a pit beneath the pump room floor.

The roadway was reopened about 10:30 a.m.

Distressed swimmer pulled from sea

Lifeguards rescued a 54-year-old Japanese tourist who nearly drowned yesterday in Waikiki.

The man had been swimming inside the Waikiki breakwater when he stopped breathing about 10 a.m., the city’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division said.

Lifeguards brought him ashore and performed CPR, reviving him.

Paramedics took the man to Straub Clinic & Hospital.

Man allegedly takes brother’s car

An 18-year-old man was arrested Friday morning after he allegedly stole his brother’s car, got into a crash, and then ran from the scene in Aiea.

Police responded to the crash at Heleconia Place near the Aiea pedestrian overpass at 8:50 a.m. The suspect fled on foot but was captured by police.

After the vehicle was reported stolen, officers arrested the suspect for unauthorized control of a vehicle and driving without a license.

NEIGHBOR ISLAND

Mo-ped rider killed in crash with SUV

A 26-year-old man died Friday night after the mo-ped he was riding collided with a sport utility vehicle on South Kamehameha Avenue in Kahului.

Maui police identified the man as Travis Diego of Kahului.

Police said Diego was traveling south on the road when he collided with a northbound SUV that was turning left onto Kuuhoa Street.

Diego was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

Police are investigating whether drugs, alcohol or speeding were factors in the collision.

Faked illness nets officer year in jail

WAILUKU, Maui » A former Maui police officer will be serving time in jail for deceiving her colleagues into thinking that she was terminally ill.

The Maui News reported Allison Moore was sentenced Friday to one year in jail after pleading no contest to seven counts of second-degree forgery and other charges.

Prosecutors say Moore used forged notes from doctors to dupe her fellow police officers and others into believing that she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

But prosecutors say she was really battling a methamphetamine drug addiction.

Besides the jail sentence, the 29-year-old Moore was ordered to pay $12,554 in restitution.

She was also ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to undergo mental health treatment as part of five years’ probation.