Strong winds on Christmas Day left three women stranded in the mountains in Makaha, where they stayed overnight until firefighters rescued them Saturday morning.
Honolulu Fire Department Capt. James Todd said the women started hiking the Puu Keaau Trail about 10 a.m. Friday and called for help about 5 p.m. when they couldn’t safely climb up or down in a dangerous area.
Firefighters couldn’t hike to the women before nightfall because they were too far into the trail, and sent a helicopter to the area. The pilot, however, couldn’t get close enough to pick up the women because of the gusty winds and treacherous terrain.
Firefighters told the women, one in her 20s, another in her 30s and the third in her 60s, to stay in place, huddle together and wait for firefighters to return in the morning.
About 5:30 a.m., firefighters resumed their rescue mission and flew the women off the mountain, one by one, by 8:57 a.m., Todd said. No one was hurt.
Todd urged residents and visitors to pay attention to weather warnings and to be aware of their limitations before hiking.
Protective order against suspect denied in 2013
The mother of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who was stabbed on Kauai tried to file a protective order for her daughter two years ago against the man accused in her attack.
The petition was denied, the Garden Island reports.
District Judge Edmund Acoba denied the request by Sharon Kanahele for a temporary restraining order in December 2013 against Christopher Cruz on grounds that it lacked evidence of acts of abuse.
On Wednesday, Cruz pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in the stabbing of Victoria Kanahele in the parking lot of the Eleele Ace Hardware on Dec. 6. Cruz is accused of puncturing the right side of Kanahele’s abdomen, then running away.
Kanahele was rushed to the hospital, where her baby boy died 30 minutes after an emergency cesarean section.
Cruz’s trial is set for April 18 before Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano. His bail was set at $250,000.
In her handwritten petition, Sharon Kanahele alleged several incidents of abuse and included written death threats Victoria Kanahele received via text messages from Cruz. In 2012, she said, Cruz pushed Victoria Kanahele “out of his truck while driving down the road.”
Stacey Joroff, a family lawyer not involved in the case, said it was possible that Sharon Kanahele did not fill out the paperwork correctly.
Victoria Kanahele was a minor at the time, and minors cannot file court papers. Yet the petition was written from a first-person point of view.
“Chris pick me up and took me to Kokee,” another allegation states. “He hit me two times and stabbed me on my left leg with scissors three times. Our daughter was present at this time.”
