Mom accused of attacking son with shovel

Police have arrested a 42-year-old Makakilo woman who allegedly assaulted her 15-year-old son with a shovel because he didn’t do his chores.

The alleged assault occurred at 8 a.m. Monday. Police arrested the woman at 9:20 a.m. on suspicion of second-degree assault and issued her a 24-hour abuse warning.

Man swept into Maui blowhole is ID’d

The man who was reported missing after he was swept into a seaside blowhole in North Maui has been identified as David Potts of California.

Potts, 44, of San Anselmo, was standing with his girlfriend’s brother when a wave struck both of them from the rear at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Nakalele on Maui, police spokesman Wayne Ibarra said. The brother suffered some minor injury.

The rough water and poor visibility made searching for Potts difficult, police said.

The search for Potts was called off Monday evening.

The blowhole at Nakalele is a visitor attraction but also can be a dangerous enticement for unknowing sightseers.

Rogue waves sometimes as high as 35 feet can suddenly rise out of the ocean and sweep across the volcanic rock shelf.

Potts was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with short brown hair and blue eyes, and was last seen wearing only a pair of multicolored floral-printed board shorts and a gray or blue hat, Ibarra said.

Makiki family returns home to find fire

Fire caused $150,000 in damage to a second-floor apartment at a Makiki four-story walkup building Monday.

Fire Capt. Terry Seelig said the family had just gotten home and discovered smoke coming out of Unit 201 at 1436 Kewalo St. and called for help around 4:45 p.m. The first firefighters arrived at 4:48 p.m. and brought the blaze under control by 4:59 p.m.

They extinguished the fire at 5:20 p.m.

A couple and their two sons, an adult and a teen, lived at the apartment. The father was exposed to smoke but refused treatment from paramedics. No one was injured.

Flames lapped up to the lanai above the unit, causing some heat damage to the lanai.

Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause.

Fugitive to be extradited back to Hawaii

A 34-year-old Hawaii fugitive, who had been working for two years at a Stratford, Conn., school, will be extradited Saturday to Honolulu to face a theft charge for welfare fraud in Hawaii.

Ann Grace Macion had been living with her two young children and working in Stratford, Conn., since at least 2009, according to the Connecticut Post.

Macion fraudulently received more than $20,000 in public assistance benefits from the state of Hawaii between Feb. 1, 2001, and March 31, 2006, an indictment says, but she wasn’t indicted until April 13.

After being indicted on a first-degree theft charge, a bench warrant was issued, but Macion was never arrested in Hawaii, said Supervising Deputy Attorney General Chris Young.

Young said he could not disclose how Hawaii authorities discovered she was living in Connecticut.

The indictment said the Department of Human Services discovered the welfare fraud on May 28, 2008.

Macion has worked since 2009 as a cafeteria monitor in Stratford at Nichols Elementary School and has been driving a school bus for Durham School Service in that town, the Connecticut Post reported June 23.