Man succumbs to injuries from blast
Hawaii island police said a man hospitalized after an explosion involving the production of marijuana-derived oil has died.
Rasi Summers, 30, of Keaau was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. Thursday at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu. He had been listed in critical condition with second-degree burns, police said.
The explosion Dec. 28 on 17th Avenue in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna knocked out windows, blew out cabinet doors and melted plumbing fixtures, police said.
Police said at the scene there was evidence of a laboratory used to manufacture a marijuana byproduct called butane honey oil. Officers recovered 102 marijuana plants from an apparent indoor growing operation.
Police said butane honey oil laboratories are becoming more prevalent on Hawaii island. A 28-year-old Puna woman was arrested in connection with the case and later released pending further investigation.
Woman killed in Kihei house fire identified
Maui police identified a 77-year-old woman who was killed Friday when an early morning fire gutted her Kihei home.
Hazel Jones was pronounced dead at the scene. Her cause of death has not been determined.
The fire on Kanani Road was reported at 5:45 a.m. and brought under control by 7 a.m.
Flames had consumed about half of the 2.300-square-foot, three-bedroom home when firefighters arrived on the scene. Damage to the structure and contents was estimated at $300,000. The cause of the fire was "undetermined," but a Maui Fire Department spokesman said it appeared to be accidental.
Human remains found in Kalapana field
Hawaii County Police are investigating the discovery of a body found in a lava field in Kalapana, near the area where a possible murder suspect had been camping and a missing Japanese tourist’s rental car was found.
A hiker found the body in a forested area of a lava field at the end of Highway 130 just before 3 p.m. Thursday.
Hawaii island police said Friday that the body has yet to be identified and have initiated a coroner’s inquest.
The remains were taken to the morgue at the Hilo Medical Center, where an autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
The body was found in an area near where the body of Brittany-Jane Royal, 25, was found in waters off Kalapana on May 28. Police are seeking Royal’s boyfriend, Boaz D. Johnson, formerly of Petersburg, Alaska, for questioning in connection with her death. Johnson, 22, had been camping in Kalapana with Royal when both disappeared.
The area is also near where the rental car of 51-year-old Japanese visitor Hiromichi Yoshino was found. Yoshino was last seen Feb. 13 at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. His car was found unlocked and unattended at a lava viewing area at the end of Highway 130.
Work furlough escapee is back in custody
A 31-year-old Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate at the Laumaka Work Furlough Center now faces escape charges after failing to return to the prison on New Year’s Day.
William Choi was on a work release program and scheduled to return at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday but failed to do so. He was arrested when he returned at 11:15 a.m. Thursday.
Choi was serving time for kidnapping and first-degree terroristic threatening.
Police released him pending further investigation, and he returned to the work furlough center. He now faces an additional charge of second-degree escape.
Traveler thwarted in attempt to carry knife
A man tried twice, unsuccessfully, to bring a multitool utility knife through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Honolulu Airport, according to the weekly TSA Blog.
The knife was detected at the checkpoint this week, and the man was allowed to leave the area and place it in his checked bag. But when he returned to the security area, the knife was detected concealed inside a Thermos, the TSA Blog said. The blog did not note whether the man was arrested or allowed to proceed to his flight without the knife.
TSA agents also detected an inert grenade at a Honolulu Airport checkpoint, one of three inert grenades and an inert 40 mm artillery shell discovered in carry-on luggage nationwide this week.
