Ex-boyfriend arrested for extortion

Police arrested a 45-year-old homeless man who allegedly threatened to hurt a former girlfriend and her family unless she gave him money.

Police said the man called the 37-year-old woman and arranged to meet her in Kalihi at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. She called police after giving her former live-in boyfriend money.

Police caught him a short distance away at Middle Street and Kamehameha Highway and arrested him for extortion and outstanding warrants.

3 suspects wanted in alleged rape

Police were looking for three suspects in connection with the alleged rape of a 26-year-old woman at a residence near Sandy Beach on Monday night.

The suspects are in their late 20s or early 30s, police said. The incident happened between 8 and 9 p.m.

Police did not release additional details.

Fire destroys sauna at Big Isle resort

Firefighters extinguished a sauna fire yesterday at the Mauna Lani resort in South Kohala.

The fire started shortly before 10 a.m. in building D on Mauna Lani Point Drive, firefighters said. Maintenance workers used a garden hose to control the flames until firefighters arrived and put out the blaze at 10:15 a.m.

The sauna was destroyed. The cause remains under investigation.

3 boaters help rescue 2 men adrift

Three good samaritans helped rescue two men whose rowboat was adrift yesterday in strong wind off the northeast coast of the Big Island.

The men, one in his 50s and another in his 70s, called for help about 10:10 a.m. after the wind caught their 8-foot dinghy about a mile from Mahukona in North Kohala, firefighters said.

The wind, focused by the island’s terrain, also made the seas choppy. The men couldn’t row their boat back to shore.

A fire helicopter spotted the men in their dinghy and confirmed they needed help, but were not injured. The helicopter contacted a passing boat operated by Keoni Erger, Kawai Nogues and Edmond Rosenfeld, which followed the helicopter to the dinghy and towed them to shore from about 2 miles out, firefighters said.

A second fire helicopter also assisted with the escort.

Firefighters said when the two men returned to shore, the older man complained of dizziness and was taken to North Kohala Hospital for observation.

Homeless man charged over threats

Prosecutors charged a 51-year-old homeless man after he allegedly fired a stolen shotgun into the air and threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend at a homeless camp in Waianae on Sunday.

Calvin Gulia was charged Tuesday with first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree reckless endangering, first-degree theft, a firearm charge and three contempt warrants. He was being held on $20,000 bail.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Officer given top honors for drug bust

Edwin Buyten

Hawaii County police officer Edwin Buyten has been awarded the 2010 Top Cop award for the police department by the Law Enforcement & Security Coalition of Hawaii.

Buyten, a Kona vice section officer, was honored for a lengthy narcotics investigation that led to a sentence of jail and mandatory drug rehabilitation for the morphine supplier of a 31-year-old man who died from an overdose, according to the police department.

Buyten received the award on Oct. 5 at the 26th Annual Law Enforcement/Security Appreciation Luncheon at the Manoa Grand Ballroom on Oahu.

Crews plan new search for swimmer

Big Island fire and rescue crews plan to resume searching today for the body of a 33-year-old bodyboarder last seen Monday at Kaimu Beach near Kalapana.

Paul Currier of Pahoa has been missing since 3:54 p.m. Monday when witnesses reported seeing a bodyboarder in distress in the area’s high surf. He went under pounding waves, then resurfaced face down in the surf.

Firefighters have searched from dawn to dusk for two days, using the department’s rescue boat and helicopter.

The Coast Guard assisted the Fire Department on Tuesday but has since suspended its search.