Purse-snatching suspect faces 16 counts
A 25-year-old purse-snatching suspect was charged Tuesday with 16 offenses ranging from theft to forgery in Hilo, Hawaii County police said.
Bronson I.K. Lee of Hilo is accused of stealing an 87-year-old woman’s purse at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at a drugstore on Puainako Street. Police said the woman’s credit card was used at two nearby businesses.
Police arrested Lee at 2:40 p.m. Sunday in a home improvement store parking lot on Makaala Street.
Lee was charged with five counts of theft, three counts of forgery, four count of identity theft and four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. His bail was set at $44,250.
Lee is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
Woman critically hurt in 40-foot tumble
Hawaii County fire personnel Tuesday rescued a woman in her 50s who was critically injured after falling down an embankment near the Wainaku Bridge in Hilo, a fire official said.
The woman had landed 40 feet below the bridge on rocks near the river’s edge.
The Fire Department got the call at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday. The first unit was on scene at 3:15 p.m. and found the woman unconscious and in critical medical condition, according to a battalion chief and a Fire Department news release.
Three firefighters rappelled down a steep embankment to the woman, stabilized her and placed her in a rescue basket.
Because of power lines, trees and the steep terrain, the firefighters hoisted the woman up to the bridge using a ladder truck and a high-angle retrieval system rather than a helicopter.
The woman apparently was alone when she fell, the battalion chief said.
