Iroquois Point Elementary School warned parents Thursday about an incident in which a man in a white van pulled up to a nearby park and started taking pictures of a student.
The student’s family filed a report with the Honolulu Police Department and notified security with Kapilina Beach Homes about the encounter, which occurred at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The man was described as white, with tattoos and a hat, according to a Kapilina management email, which asks its residents to keep a lookout for the van and anything suspicious. Kapilina manages the large gated community around the school.
In a notice sent home Thursday, Iroquois Point Principal Ofelia Reed encouraged parents to speak to their children about "stranger danger" and how to keep safe when walking to and from school.
AWOL inmate is arrested in Kaneohe
A 27-year-old Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate was charged Thursday with escape after being arrested near his Kaneohe home for failing to return from a work furlough earlier this week, Honolulu police said.
Brandon Medeiros was reported missing Tuesday night. He had left OCCC at 8:30 a.m. and failed to return at 1:30 p.m. as scheduled.
Medeiros, who is serving time for second-degree assault, second-degree robbery and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, had been scheduled for a parole hearing in March.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Police seek man on video at scene of fire
Hawaii island police want to question a man who was captured on a surveillance video at the scene of a suspicious fire at about 6:10 a.m. Thursday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Captain Cook.
When police arrived, firefighters were on the scene, and the north rear entrance was fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters extinguished the fire and determined that it was deliberately set. Damage, estimated at more than $80,000, was limited to the north side of the building. Detectives are investigating the case as arson.
They recovered a photograph from the surveillance video, which shows a Caucasian man in his 50s who appears to be tall with a large build and who has light hair with a receding hairline and a mustache.
Police ask anyone who knows the identity of the man in the photo or who has any information about the fire to contact Detective Sean Smith at 326-4646, ext. 262, or ssmith@co.hawaii. hi.us; or Detective Walter Ah Mow at 326-4646, ext. 238, or wahmow@co.hawaii.hi.us.
