Fire crews rescue two visitors
Wailuku firefighters rescued two visitors in separate incidents Wednesday.
A 65-year-old Missouri man was airlifted at 2:20 p.m. from the Waihee Ridge trail to Camp Maluhia, after injuring his knee while hiking, said Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga. The man slipped on a muddy path along the trail and could not move any further.
After being rescued, the man refused medical treatment and said his friends would drive him to the emergency room. Firefighters responded to the 1:56 p.m. alarm. They were assisted by a rescue crew from Kahului.
A 26-year-old female visitor from New York City was walked to safety by Wailuku firefighters at about 8 p.m., after getting lost at Iao Valley State Park, Mainaga said.
The woman was visiting the park as part of a group retreat, but she was separated from others, he said. She mistakenly hiked deeper into the valley. When night fell, she sent a text message to her group.
After about 45 minutes, firefighters found her uninjured, a half-mile above the end of a marked path, Mainaga said.
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Two arrested in robbery, theft
Two people were arrested Wednesday in connection with a robbery and car theft in the parking lot of Costco in Kahului, according to police.
Around 4:45 p.m., a 42-year-old Makawao man returned to his white Ford truck after shopping in Costco to find a man and woman seated in the front seat of his truck and rummaging through the vehicle, police said.
The victim approached the man, who got out of the driver's side of the truck and struck the victim in the head with a drink bottle, police reported. The assailant ran away, and the woman got into a green Honda sedan and drove off.
Patrol officers responding to the scene apprehended the man near Kmart, police said. The woman was later located and arrested at her residence in Paia. The green Honda with the same license plate number was found at the residence. It was seized, pending a search warrant for suspected stolen property seen within.
The victim suffered a bruised face.
The man, 29, with no local address, was arrested for robbery and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. The woman, 19, was arrested for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
No charges were filed as of Thursday afternoon, with the investigation ongoing, police said.
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Police net 2 arrests in robbery
Two men have been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of the First Hawaiian Bank branch in Pukalani on Tuesday, according to police.
At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, a Pukalani man, 28, and a Kula man, 25, were arrested following an investigation by detectives with the Criminal Investigations Division, officers with the Special Response Team and patrol units, said police spokesman Lt. Wayne Ibarra.
A Kaanapali woman also was arrested for first-degree hindering prosecution at the time of the arrest, he said. All three were taken to the Wailuku Police Station.
Police seized a vehicle from a Lahaina resort and a motorcycle from a residence in the Pukalani area, Ibarra said.
No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening, with the investigation ongoing.
According to police reports, a gunman ordered customers to the ground and then went to each teller's window and demanded money Tuesday at the bank at 67 Makawao Ave.
The man fled the bank with an unknown amount of cash, police said, and he was last seen heading toward the back parking lot where he got onto the back of a dirt bike. Another male, who was wearing camouflage pants, was operating the yellow dirt bike with black lettering.
