2010 assault leads to arrest
A 22-year-old Nanakuli man was arrested Wednesday night in connection with an assault case that occurred in 2010. Police said that the man punched a woman, 21, in the face on Sept. 2, 2010, around 2:30 p.m.
The suspect is being held pending an assault charge. He is also being held on four contempt charges.
Meth case yields 17-year term
A federal judge sentenced a 57-year-old Waimanalo man to 17 years in prison Monday for selling methamphetamine to a law enforcement informant in 2009.
Ashford Kaipo Spencer was found guilty by a jury on June 1 of selling methamphetamine to the informant near Waimanalo Shopping Center, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
Spencer sold about two ounces of meth in April 2009 for $6,000 and a similar amount in June 2009 for $5,600.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Spencer Monday.
Florence T. Nakakuni, U.S. attorney for Hawaii, said Spencer’s two prior felony convictions, involving kidnapping/robbery and first-degree criminal property damage, were a factor in determining the length of his sentence on the methamphetamine charges.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Woman killed when truck’s boom hits car
A Holualoa woman died Thursday after the boom of a crane truck hit her vehicle in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii County police said.
The woman was identified as Sheila Goto, 42.
The incident took place at about 9:30 a.m. on Kaiminani Drive, 150 feet west of Ane Keoholeola Highway.
Kona patrol officers determined that a 42-year-old Keaau man was driving a 2000 Ford crane truck from a local electrical company west on Kaiminani Drive when the boom of the truck hit a large cable.
The truck tipped over on its left side, and the boom hit the eastbound 2011 Ford pickup Goto was driving, police said.
She was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 12:22 p.m.
Two passengers in Goto’s vehicle, a man, 37, and a woman, 54, were treated at the hospital and released. The driver of the crane truck was admitted in stable condition.
It was the first traffic fatality on Hawaii island this year, compared with four at this time last year.
Rescue attempt nets 3 tourists in bay’s rip tide
Maui County rescue personnel helped three Canadian visitors caught in a rip tide at Napili Bay Wednesday morning.
The incident began when a man, 56, got into trouble in the ocean and a 38-year-old man and his
10-year-old daughter went to help him on their bodyboards. They then were caught in the tide themselves.
When fire rescue personnel arrived at 10:41 a.m., all three were 60 to 70 yards off shore. Firefighters brought them to shore about 15 minutes later.
