In brief | Big Island & state 101213

Police seek information on Hamakua man wanted on warrants

Big Island police are renewing their request for information about a 49-year-old Hamakua man wanted on warrants.

Adrien Haena Kalani of Ahualoa is wanted for contempt of court, promoting a dangerous drug and possessing drug paraphernalia. He is also wanted for questioning in connection with an assault and an auto theft, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

He is described as approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 300 pounds with short black-and-gray hair and brown eyes.

Police said the public should not contact or approach him.

Anyone who knows his whereabouts should call 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.

DHS client portal to be down for maintenance

The Department of Human Services client portal, KOLEA, will be down for routine maintenance 2 p.m. today through 2 p.m. Sunday. During that period, applications for medical assistance will not be processed.

Anyone wishing to manually complete an application during the scheduled maintenance period can download one to print from mybenefits.hawaii.gov. To download a family or individual application, go to mybenefits.hawaii.gov. Under “Information,” select “applying for benefits.” Completed applications may be mailed, faxed or hand delivered to any DHS office.

Hawaii shooting victim’s parents
blast prosecutor

HONOLULU — The parents of a Hawaii man shot and killed during a 2011 confrontation with an off-duty federal agent at a Waikiki McDonald’s restaurant publicly pleaded Friday for a new, more aggressive prosecutor to handle the agent’s upcoming retrial.

Prosecutors charged State Department Special Agent Christopher Deedy with murder, but a jury in August wasn’t able to reach a verdict. A retrial is scheduled for June.

Jennell Elderts and her husband Kendall Elderts told reporters they were abandoned and lied to by prosecutors who didn’t ask the judge to allow the jury to consider a lesser manslaughter charge. They said they were promised manslaughter would be an option.

But Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro said in a statement on Friday that no promises were ever made regarding charges.

Deedy was in Honolulu to help provide security for an economic summit in November 2011, and was off-duty when he went to the fast-food restaurant after a night of bar-hopping with friends.

He was charged with murder, with prosecutors claiming during trial that he was an inexperienced agent who was intoxicated and defensive after being warned about the hostility of Hawaii locals toward outsiders.

Deedy testified that he was protecting himself and others by intervening when he saw Kollin Elderts harassing another customer. He said he fired his gun while Elderts was on top of him throwing punches.

Elderts, 23, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Deedy, 29, remains free on bail and has returned to the mainland.

“I think we need a different prosecutor,” Jennell Elderts said on Friday. “We just need a more aggressive approach to prosecuting this guy.”

Kaneshiro said after the mistrial was declared that there was no evidence to support a manslaughter charge. He said the retrial will also be handled by the same prosecutor who tried the first trial: Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Janice Futa.

“We prosecute cases according to the evidence and the law and are not influenced by civil cases,” Kaneshiro’s statement on Friday said.

Elderts’ parents have a civil suit pending against Deedy. Their attorney, Michael Green, said it was offensive prosecutors didn’t at least ask for manslaughter.

“At least it’s an issue to go up to the appellate court with,” Green said. “I don’t buy their reason for it. It makes no sense.”

Green’s comments could have an impact on the retrial and the civil case, said Brook Hart, who was Deedy’s lead defense attorney.

“The judge, prosecutor and defense counsel all agreed there was no evidence to support any instruction on reckless manslaughter,” he said. “It’s not something the prosecutors did or failed to do. It’s the facts of the case.”

Hawaii orders stores to pull dietary supplement

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s Department of Health mandated that stores pull a dietary supplement under investigation for possible ties to hepatitis and liver failure.

The department on Thursday told retailers they must take OxyELITE Pro, used for weight loss and muscle-building, off the shelves and store it for state inspectors to inventory.

The initial voluntary removal was stepped up to an embargo to determine how much of the product is out there and because nutrition store GNC initially said it wouldn’t comply, department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said Friday.

GNC spokeswoman Laura Brophy said all 25 Hawaii stores voluntarily complied before the embargo was issued. GNC and manufacturer USPlabs maintain the product is safe.

“We did decide to take that extra step,” Okubo said about the embargo. “The vast majority of retailers complied.”

Defying the embargo could result in financial penalties. The move gives the department the authority to go store to store to take inventory, which Okubo said could take two to three days.

Health officials said there were reports of OxyELITE Pro use in 24 of 29 cases of hepatitis and liver failure they’re investigating. The supplement comes in pill and powder form.

As of Friday afternoon, the number of cases under investigation grew to 32, said Mark Berthold, spokesman for the department’s Disease Outbreak Control Division. It wasn’t clear whether OxyELITE Pro use was reported in the new cases.

Pflueger sentenced
on tax charges

HONOLULU — A Hawaii car dealer who agreed to testify about his father in a manslaughter case has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for tax evasion.

Alan Pflueger was sentenced Friday in federal court in Honolulu.

Pflueger pleaded guilty last year to filing a tax return with unreported income in 2005.

Pflueger is the son of James Pflueger, who took a plea deal earlier this year in a case involving the deaths of seven people on his property when a dam broke in 2006.

‘Young Frankenstein’ shows are at 7:30 p.m.

A story in Friday’s issue listed incorrect times for the Aloha Performing Arts Company’s production of “Young Frankenstein.” Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 27.

Also, Francine Alexander serves as vocal director for the show.

It is the policy of West Hawaii Today to correct promptly any incorrect or misleading information when it is brought to the attention of the newspaper.

By local and wire sources