15 aboard Hawaii flight treated after pepper spray goes off
HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines said a can of pepper spray went off inside a plane headed from Oakland, Calif., to Maui, requiring emergency help for several people aboard.
Airline spokesman Alex Da Silva said 12 passengers and three flight attendants were treated for respiratory issues and released Friday.
He said in a statement that a passenger illegally brought the pepper spray on the plane carrying 256 passengers and 10 crew members but that it appears the release was accidental.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara said about 30 people complained about effects from the irritant, but no one was taken to the hospital.
The airline said the flight was delayed earlier Friday after a teenager in Oakland sent a photo depicting a fake crime scene to cellphones of other passengers.
Couple found dead in Kauai home following police standoff
LIHUE, Kauai — A man and a woman were found dead inside a Kauai home following a standoff that began when the man called police reporting gunshots.
The 53-year-old man died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the 50-year-old woman died after being shot, according to the Kauai Police Department.
Authorities have not made public the identities of the man and woman, who were thought to be married. Autopsies were pending.
The man called police at about 2 p.m. Wednesday, reporting shots fired and a threat by the woman to kill himself, police said. Officers responded to the house in Kekaha and attempted to contact the man.
Crisis negotiators and the department’s special services team were called to scene and continued attempts to reach the man.
“They were asking if he needed any medical attention, if he and his wife were OK, if they were alive — if they needed anything,” said neighbor Andru Davis-Henry.
After about four hours and several failed attempts to reach the man, police entered the home and found both dead.
The investigation is ongoing.
Emergency managers studied Hawaii food supply before storm
HONOLULU — Emergency managers studied the operations of Hawaii’s wholesale grocers in preparation for Hurricane Lane instead of just bringing food and water to the islands.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said they researched how many days of food was already in the state.
He said FEMA studied how it could keep the private sector food supply pipeline open and how it could provide food and water if that pipeline broke.
FEMA brought some food and water to Hawaii before last week’s storm to prepare for that possibility.
Long was in Hawaii Thursday, where he joined Gov. David Ige and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson for a news conference.
Man accused of killing wife in market pleads no contest
WAILUKU, Maui — A Maui man accused of slitting his estranged wife’s throat in a supermarket pleaded no contest to murder Wednesday.
Stephen Schmidt pleaded to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and other charges.
Schmidt cut the throat of 24-year-old Kehau Farias Schmidt while she was shopping at a Foodland in 2016, authorities said. The two of them were separated at the time, police said.
Police said Schmidt started an argument with a man who was with Farias Schmidt. After a brief struggle with the man, Schmidt stabbed the woman with a knife.
Schmidt also changed his pleas for other charges involving two men who were stabbed while trying to stop the attack. He pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree murder of James Reeves II and to a reduced charge of first-degree assault of Scott Spencer “Kip” Stolsig.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors will recommend Schmidt be sentenced to concurrent terms of life in prison with the possibility of parole. The Hawaii Paroling Authority would determine how much time Schmidt serves before being eligible for parole.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 20.
Ex-police officer sentenced in theft, bribery scheme
HONOLULU — A former Maui police officer convicted of stealing $1,800 from a man during a traffic stop and conspiring with others to bribe the man was sentenced to two years in prison.
Anthony Maldonado was sentenced in federal court Tuesday after pleading guilty in April to charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and conspiracy to commit witness tampering.
Maldonado, 29, took the money from the man while he was stopped at Mala Wharf in Lahaina, Maui, in September 2015, according to court documents. The man later reported the theft to police.
To get the man to withdraw his complaint, Maldonado hatched a scheme with three other men, including two Maui police officers.
Maldonado offered the victim about $2,000 through Damien Kaina in exchange for the victim to withdraw his complaint, according to court documents. The man accepted $1,800 and later reported the bribe to police.
Maldonado was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,917 in restitution.
Kaina and former officer Chase Keliipaakaua were convicted for their roles in the scheme, receiving jail sentences.
Former police Sgt. Walter Ahuna also was convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.