Hawaii isle motorcyclist dies in crash
A 45-year-old Captain Cook man died Monday night after the motorcycle he was driving rear-ended a truck in South Kona.
Hawaii County police said speeding and alcohol appear to have been factors in the crash at 7:35 p.m. on Route 11, south of the 109-mile marker in Captain Cook. Police opened a negligent-homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy.
The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet, police said. His name was being withheld pending identification and notification of the next of kin.
Kona patrol officers said the motorcyclist was driving a 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and traveling south on Route 11 when he rear-ended a 2005 Toyota pickup truck stopped in traffic and waiting to make a left turn onto Seiganji Mission Road.
The driver of the pickup truck, a 35-year-old woman from Captain Cook, and her 4-year-old son were not injured.
Fire Department rescue personnel took the motorcyclist to Kona Community Hospital, where he died at 7:56 p.m.
Police ask that anyone with information about this crash call Officer Larry Flowers at 326-4646, ext. 229.
It was the seventh traffic fatality on Hawaii island this year, compared with none at this time last year.
Excavator blamed for UH-Manoa gas leak
A gas leak at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Monday night apparently was caused by an excavator that slid into a trench and damaged a gas line, said Joe Boivin, a spokesman for Hawaii Gas.
About 25 people from four campus buildings and the nearby mall area were evacuated after UH reported the leak at about 8:30 p.m. at a construction site at the Information Technology Center.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said a hazardous materials crew plugged the leak at about 9 p.m. Hawaii Gas crews completed repairs at 11 p.m.
Hauula man held in assault, threat
Police arrested a 53-year-old Hauula man Monday after he allegedly violated a protective order, sexually assaulted a woman and threatened to kill her.
Police said the suspect kidnapped a 45-year-old woman in Hauula on Monday and forced her to drive to another location, where he assaulted and threatened her.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of two counts of violating a protective order, first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree assault, first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping. He was also being held on suspicion of violating an earlier protective order Saturday.
