Security firm says officer shot dog to avoid attack
HONOLULU (AP) — A private security firm said its officer was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a family’s pet dog at Honolulu International Airport.
The dog was barking aggressively and was shot in an unauthorized parking area March 28 as it lunged toward the unidentified officer, Securitas said in a press release.
The company said the officer was injured after he fell backward into a tree while trying to get out of the pit bull’s way and now is on medical leave.
The account differs from that of the pet’s owner, Leisha Ramos, who said the security officer approached her family while they were loading luggage into their vehicle, told them to leave and started arguing with her boyfriend.
The chain that tied her dog, Kaiele, to a tree broke but the dog was not acting aggressively, she said.
Ramos said she was holding her 5-month-old baby when the guard shot the dog a few feet away.
Oahu Sen. Will Espero said the security officer is being investigated for reckless endangering and was previously fired as a civilian police officer for the Army for pulling his gun too often.
Mother facing deportation granted reprieve
HONOLULU (AP) — A Maui mother facing deportation to Mexico is getting a reprieve while U.S. immigration officials consider her asylum case.
Tania Venegas turned herself in to immigration officials Tuesday in Honolulu.
Her lawyer, Clare Hanusz, said she negotiated for Venegas to be released on $5,000 bond. Hanusz is asking immigration officials to reconsider deporting Venegas, asking that Venegas be allowed to remain in the United States because she fears an abusive ex-boyfriend in Mexico.
Hanusz says Venegas has lived on Maui since 2006 after overstaying a visa. Her deportation case has been pending since 2008.
The mother of three U.S.-born children was released later Tuesday after her U.S. citizen sister arrived with a check to pay the bond.
Woman gets year in jail for stealing from nonprofit
HONOLULU (AP) — A woman must spend a year in jail for stealing more than half-a-million dollars from a nonprofit organization that helps homeless families.
The state attorney general’s office announced Tuesday that a judge sentenced Sophina Placencia to a year in jail and four years of probation. She also was ordered to pay at least $200 per month toward restitution. At that rate, it could take 200 years to repay what was stolen.
Placencia was director of Waianae Community Outreach when she was arrested in 2015 for taking money from the nonprofit.
She is scheduled to begin her jail sentence May 15.
