The owner of a Kalihi high-rise housing complex where an 8-year-old boy fell 12 floors down a trash chute Wednesday night has turned over security video of the incident to police, a company spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, the boy was scheduled to go home Friday from the Queen’s Medical Center, said Laura Zaner, spokeswoman for Michaels Development Co., which owns the Towers at Kuhio Park, formerly Kuhio Park Terrace.
"It is our understanding the boy was being discharged this afternoon," Zaner said. "We were very happy to hear that. He must be OK."
Zaner said she had not seen video from the 12th-floor walkway of Tower A. She said as building management described it to her, the boy is visible on the video, but because of the camera angle it is difficult to see exactly what happened, and that the entire episode was not captured.
Zaner said the video recording was turned over to police.
Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said she would not comment on the investigation because it is ongoing and would not say whether police had a video recording.
A worker at the building complex contacted the Star-Advertiser on Friday and described what he saw on the video.
The worker, who asked that his name not be published, said the video shows the child placing a bag into the trash chute at 7:06 p.m. Wednesday.
The boy ran back toward his apartment but re-entered the camera view a minute later "as if he wanted to retrieve something from the bag," the worker said.
The worker said he zoomed in on the image and saw the child stick his head into the chute, step back, climb on top of the hinged door, climb in legs-first and go in "as if it were a slide."
No one else was present at any time, he said.
The worker said he came forward with the information to dispel suspicions that the fall was a result of a malicious act.
The boy, who was found in a dumpster at the bottom of the chute, may have been there more than two hours.
Police responded to a report of a boy who had reportedly disappeared before 7 p.m. Wednesday at 1545 Linapuni St.
Officers spoke with the boy’s parents, who said the boy takes out the trash as part of his routine, then sometimes goes downstairs and walks around, police said.
When he didn’t return for some time Wednesday night, they looked for him but couldn’t find him. They then called police and reported him missing.
Police said they were determining whether there was any video from any security cameras that would show whether the boy had been abducted.
During that time a report came in that someone heard crying from the building dumpster, police said.
Officers discovered the boy had landed in the dumpster on a pile of rubbish, which broke his fall, police said.
Police called the Fire Department, and firefighters got the boy out of the dumpster.
Fire Capt. Chris Ah Mook Sang said there was traumatic injury to the boy’s leg. Although the family lives on the 12th floor, firefighters could not confirm that that was from where he fell, Ah Mook Sang said.
Emergency Medical Services responded to the 9:22 p.m. call Wednesday and took the boy to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.
Michaels Development owns the buildings at Towers at Kuhio Park as part of a private-public partnership and has a long-term lease on the land from the state.
The company completed a $135 million renovation project earlier this month.
The worker who described the video said he believes the trash chutes are a hazard for children who are curious, and suggested preventing accidents by securing them with a key.
He said conditions at the former Kuhio Park Terrace have improved a lot since the new management has taken over; attitudes have changed, and small problems have been contained by security.
