Spill closes eastbound H-1 lanes

A fluid spill from an accident tied up eastbound traffic for nearly 1 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon on the H-1 freeway in the Aiea area.

The crash caused hydraulic fluid to spill onto all eastbound lanes about 3:15 p.m. right after the Waimalu off-ramp, police dispatch said.

Emergency crews poured solvent to soak up the fluid, which was spread from the Kaahumanu Overpass to the Newtown driving range, dispatchers said.

The lanes were reopened at 4:38 p.m.

Man arrested in Mililani stabbing

Police arrested a 29-year-old Mililani Mauka man on suspicion of attempted murder early yesterday morning after he allegedly stabbed a man with whom he had been drinking in Mililani.

The victim, 26, was taken to the hospital in good condition with two stab wounds to his left shoulder blade and one to his left arm, police said.

The two had been drinking in front of the victim’s house on Makaunulau Street, police said, and got into an argument about the suspect making too much noise.

It was the second stabbing in Mililani in 24 hours involving people who had been drinking together.

Boy, 14, suspected in bamboo blaze

A 14-year-old boy was arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of setting fire to bamboo in upper Wahiawa on Oct. 22.

A witness saw the suspect setting the bamboo on fire and blowing on it to make the fire larger, police said. The fire caused about $1,000 damage to the bamboo on a Walea Street property owned by an 87-year-old man who made the complaint.

Alleged threat leads to teen’s arrest

Honolulu police arrested a 16-year-old Ewa Beach boy who allegedly threatened a teacher at Campbell High School on Monday morning.

Police said the 26-year-old teacher asked a group of students to stop smoking when one of the teens confronted the teacher and threatened to beat him up.

Police were called and the boy was arrested.

Heating items set fire at Sand Island

A Fire Department hazardous materials team was sent to Sand Island yesterday to help extinguish a small fire caused by several small boxes of flameless heating pouches that had been unloaded at a commercial rubbish disposal company.

No one was injured and no one had to be evacuated from the Honolulu Disposal Service site at 1169 Mikole St.

Man gets 8 years in jail for tax fraud

A man who used identification and Social Security numbers obtained through his tax preparation service in California to collect fraudulent tax refunds from Hawaii and 23 other states is going to prison.

A federal judge sentenced Michael Stringer Monday to eight years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated ID theft.

The judge also ordered Stringer to repay $1,072,977 in fraudulent tax refunds he collected from 2007 and 2009. The Hawaii portion of the restitution is $282,004, according to court records.

Authorities said Stringer used the money he stole to support his $1,500 per week gambling addiction. When investigators caught up with him last year, they recovered less than $10,000 of the stolen money.

According to an indictment, Stringer obtained the identities and Social Security numbers through a tax preparation service he set up. He then used the information to electronically file false tax returns using software from taxbrain.com and had the money sent to accounts controlled by him, his brother and an uncle, authorities said.

"There was no breach of our security in any way," said Craig Petz, a vice president with Petz Enterprises, the software company that writes and publishes the taxbrain.com tax preparation software.

Petz said Stringer used the software to file fraudulent tax returns, but was not an owner or employee of Petz Enterprises or taxbrain.com. Petz said his company assisted in the investigation and that Stringer did not access customer information at taxbrain.com.

NEIGHBOR ISLAND

Pedestrian struck, killed

A 49-year-old Maui pedestrian was killed Monday night while crossing a street in Kahului.

Maui police said the pedestrian was hit at 9:48 p.m. by a four-door sedan that was traveling west on Kaahumanu Avenue at Wharf Street.

The victim died of his injuries at Maui Memorial Medical Center. It was not known if the victim was in a crosswalk.

Gun incident brings charges

A 36-year-old Kau man was charged yesterday with firing a rifle in a residential area on the Big Island.

Regulo Jara remains in the Kona cellblock unable to post $40,000 bail and has been charged with first-degree reckless endangering and three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, Big Island police said.

Jara fired the rifle into the air after arguing with a woman outside a home on Mamalahoa Highway about 4:55 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Jara allegedly ran away, but officers found him Monday at 11 p.m.