Boy’s escape puts 2 schools on lockdown
A 16-year-old Maui boy escaped from Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua Wednesday morning, prompting a lockdown of two public schools, before being caught and returned to the facility, a Department of Human Services spokeswoman said.
The boy escaped at about 9:30 a.m. while on a “work line” on the facility grounds.
As a precaution, nearby Maunawili Elementary and Olomana schools were placed on lockdown.
DHS spokeswoman Kayla Rosenfeld said the boy was caught about 2 p.m. as he tried to climb over a fence and enter a residential area.
The school lockdown lasted until 2:15 p.m., a Department of Education spokeswoman said.
Rosenfeld said the boy has a criminal record but “at no time was he considered a threat to the community.” Rosenfeld said personnel from the state Office of Youth Services captured the boy. It was his first escape, she said.
Rosenfeld said it is standard protocol to alert Maunawili Elementary and to place classrooms on lockdown in the event of an escape.
Male robbery suspect remains at large
Police are looking for a man who took part in an early-morning robbery Wednesday in the Aala Park area.
Police said a 27-year-old man was walking home at 1:25 a.m. when two men approached him and demanded money.
The pair allegedly assaulted the victim and fled.
Police found one of the two suspects — a 16-year-old boy — and arrested him on suspicion of second-degree robbery after he was identified by the victim. The victim suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Hawi man dies after crashing his motorcycle
A 65-year-old Hawaii island man died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash Monday on Akoni Pule Highway, one mile west of Pololu Loop in North Kohala.
He was identified as James R. Wright of a Hawi address.
Police said Wright was traveling east on Akoni Pule Highway when he crossed the center line and ran off the left side of the road, hitting a tree.
Wright and his passenger, a 49-year-old Hawi woman, were taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital. Both were later flown to the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, police said.
Wright died Tuesday at 10:59 p.m.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have asked for a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an
autopsy.
This is the 26th traffic fatality on Hawaii island this year, compared with 15 at this time last year.
Early-morning fire leaves 3 homeless
Three adults were displaced Wednesday morning after a fire destroyed a two-story wooden house in Holualoa, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.
Firefighters quickly responded to the 5:43 a.m. alarm and found the house fully engulfed in flames.
The three occupants of the house evacuated the home and were helped by the Red Cross.
The house, northeast of Hualalai Road and Highway 180, was destroyed.
Thirteen firefighters brought the fire under control by 6:26 a.m. and extinguished it at 7 a.m. The cause of the blaze is under investigation, and no damage estimate was available.
