By local and wire sources
Hilo pedestrian fatality identified
A 56-year-old Hilo man died Saturday from injuries he received in a motor vehicle and pedestrian crash that occurred on the Wailoa Bridge in Hilo.
Police identified the victim as Marcelino Jaquias Jr. of Hilo.
Responding to a 6:58 p.m. call Friday, South Hilo patrol and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers determined Jaquias, a pedestrian, was crossing the Wailoa Bridge in a northerly direction and not in a crosswalk when he was struck by a 2008 Kia van, driven by a 47-year-old Hilo man and traveling west, according to the Police Department.
Jaquias was transported to the Hilo Medical Center, and later flown in “critical condition” to The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu, where he was pronounced dead at 6:42 p.m., police said.
The van driver and his passengers — a 43-year-old woman and 5-year-old girl — were not injured.
Speed, alcohol or drugs were not factors on the part of the driver, but it appears the pedestrian had been drinking, police said.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a negligent homicide case and ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
This is the fourth traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year.
Hilo suspect sought
Police are renewing their request for the public’s help in identifying a woman wanted for questioning in connection with a fire in a trash receptacle attached to an automated teller machine.
The fire occurred Sept. 8 and caused minor damage to the ATM, located in Puainako Town Center, before Fire Department personnel arrived to extinguish the flames. The case has been classified as arson, police said.
Surveillance images show a woman at the ATM shortly before the start of the fire. Anyone who knows her identity should call Detective Norbert Serrao at 961-2388 or the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.
Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
S. Kohala traffic restricted
Tree trimming along the old Mamalahoa Highway will close the westbound lane just beyond Viera Road in South Kohala beginning Tuesday.
The one-lane closure is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. and continue to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, weather permitting. Completion is scheduled for April 28.
The Alatini Tree Experts Inc., crew will trim 62 trees. For additional information, please contact Joshua Alatini at 937-4045.
Police report reveals likely cause of zip line accident
A pair of stabilizing anchors failed to keep a zip line platform from collapsing, killing one worker and critically injuring another on Sept. 21, according to a police report.
Additionally, contractors working on the project told police that the same zip line — Line No. 8 at the Honolii Mountain Outpost course recently built for Hilo-based eco-tourism company KapohoKine Adventures — had experienced a similar collapse prior to the accident that claimed the life of 36-year-old worker Ted Callaway.
Contained in the dozens-of-pages-long Hawaii County Police Department report is a record of interviews by lead investigator Detective Wendall Carter with county Public Works officials, representatives of the company contracted to build the eight-line course, GoZip Hawaii/Experiential Resources Inc. and others.
On the day after the collapse of the 30-foot tower, Carter reported visiting the accident scene along the Honolii Stream in Paukaa with Brandon Gonzales and Warren Lee, deputy-director and director, respectively, of the county’s Public Works Department. Carter described seeing “two 12-foot-long auger anchors” that had been pulled out of the ground.
“After inspecting the scene as well as the two anchors that had unearthed, (Lee) informed that the cause of this accident was due to the anchor failure which was holding up and stabilizing the platforms,” Carter wrote.
He said he was “also informed while at the scene that per the building specifications, the (platform’s) utility poles were supposed to be covered or driven approximately 71/2 feet deep.”
Carter’s measurements of the poles revealed, however, that they had only been buried 5 feet deep.
“This was evident due to the fact that the dirt line on the utility pole stopped at approximately 5 feet,” he wrote. He added that “there was no additional support to hold the anchors in after they were driven into the ground.”
59 Hawaii retirees earn more than $100K pensions
HONOLULU — Fifty-nine Hawaii retirees each receive more than $100,000 in government-funded pensions, but their identities are being kept confidential by state law.
According to statistics obtained via a public records request, three of the 59 collect more than $125,000 but less than $150,000, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday. Because the newspaper was unable to obtain their names, it could not determine whether any are so-called double dippers who collect a state pension while getting a state or county paycheck.
At least 16 other states make their pension information public.
The Employees’ Retirement System, the agency that administers benefits to Hawaii retirees or beneficiaries, said state law prohibits disclosing individual’s payout benefits.
By local and wire sources