Student arrested for gun offense

A 16-year-old boy who allegedly sold a stolen gun that was later fired at Highlands Intermediate School was arrested Wednesday for investigation of a firearms offense.

Police said the boy is a student at the school and sold the gun to another student. Officers recovered the.45-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol after the gun went off at the school on May 23, while a 14-year-old boy was showing it.

Police said the bullet went through another 14-year-old boy’s jacket and hit a rock wall. Fragments from the wall hit the hand and thigh of a third 14-year-old boy. He was treated at the school and taken home by his parents. Paramedics took one student to a hospital after he complained of ringing in his ears.

The father of the boy who was showing off the gun told the Star-Advertiser that his son found the pistol on the Pearl City school’s campus and had never held a gun before. Police released the man’s son after arresting him for investigation of attempted murder.

The registered owner of the gun, a 47-year-old man, told police the gun was missing, but had not reported it until police contacted him after the shooting.

Officers arrested the 16-year-old about 11:15 a.m. on suspicion of a firearms offense and detaining stolen property. He was released pending investigation.

Police seek witnesses to fight at pier

Police are looking for people who witnessed a fight that left a man in critical condition at Heeia Kea Pier Monday night.

Police responding to a report of a large fight found an unresponsive man with head injuries near the boat launch area. The man, who is in his 20s, was taken to a hospital with head and brain injuries.

Police said someone punched the victim, who fell down and hit his head on the asphalt, police said.

The case is being investigated as a second-degree assault.

The pier is busy on holidays with people loading and unloading boats for trips to the Ahu o Laka sandbar in Kaneohe Bay. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources estimates that more than 200 boats and 500 people visited the sandbar on Memorial Day.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

Crash victim was UH-Hilo student

Hawaii County police have identified a man killed Saturday in a hit-and-run crash in Hilo as Theodore V. Braxton, 22.

Braxton was from Huntingdon, Pa., and a student at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

He was majoring in performing arts and was also studying agriculture, said Jackie Johnson, chairwoman of the performing arts department at the UH-Hilo.

Braxton was a pianist and singer and had a passion for circus arts, Johnson said, and was one of the best performers in the program. He was set to graduate next year, she said.

Braxton was on a mo-ped when he was hit by a van turning left in front of him on Kinoole Street. The driver of the van didn’t stop and Braxton was dragged for about a block.

The van driver continued on to his Banyan Drive home, dragging Braxton’s mo-ped about a mile.

Police arrested the driver, Keolaokalani Kailianu, 41, who was charged with first-degree negligent homicide, drunken driving and fleeing the scene of an accident. He posted $10,500 bail and was released Tuesday from Hawaii Community Correctional Center.