Man, 52, admits he robbed banks
Advertiser Staff
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A 52-year-old man who was arrested Saturday after a Chinatown bank robbery has confessed to federal authorities that he was responsible for five other bank robberies since Aug. 8, according to court documents.
Wallace J. Silva Jr. was charged with the robberies yesterday in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. He was arrested Saturday after the Bank of Hawaii branch on North King Street was robbed.
While in custody, Silva confessed to the Bank of Hawaii robbery and also five others, according to a court affidavit. Silva said he robbed the Kapahulu branch of Bank of Hawaii on Aug. 8, the Waikiki branch of First Hawaiian Bank on Aug. 10, the Ke'eaumoku branch of Central Pacific Bank on Aug. 12, the Waikiki branch of American Savings Bank on Aug. 15, and the Liliha branch of American Savings on Aug. 18.
NANAKULI
WOMAN FROM FIRE SCENE HELD
A 27-year-old Nanakuli woman was arrested yesterday in connection with an Aug. 7 incident in which she allegedly was caught with a Molotov cocktail in her car near where a brushfire had just broken out.
The woman was arrested Aug. 7, but released pending further investigation. A federal magistrate then issued a warrant for her arrest and she was picked up yesterday in Kapolei and turned over to federal authorities.
The woman faces a federal charge of possessing a prohibited weapon.
On Aug. 7, police stopped her car near Honokai Hale just after a brushfire had started burning. Officers reported finding a beer bottle with liquid inside and a wick extending from the bottle. An empty gasoline can was found next to the bottle, police said.
BIG ISLAND
5-YEAR SENTENCE FOR WELFARE FRAUD
HILO — A Pahoa woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for theft after she concealed income and forged documents to qualify for $11,000 in welfare benefits, a deputy prosecutor said.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura sentenced Mary M. Soriano, 41, on Monday for the theft of food stamps, cash benefits and medical benefits.
POLICE HARVEST 7,000 PLANTS
HILO — Big Island police seized more than 7,000 marijuana plants during a three-day marijuana eradication mission in East Hawai'i this week.
The plants confiscated during the department's ongoing Counter Cannabis field operations in Puna, South Hilo, North Hilo and Hamakua ranged from seedlings to some that were 12 feet tall, police said. Vice officers also arrested two Fern Forest men in separate incidents.
On Monday, officers in a helicopter spotted a 68-year-old man in a Fern Forest marijuana patch, and landed to arrest him.
On Wednesday vice officers served a search warrant at a Fern Forest home and arrested a 56-year-old man after finding 181 marijuana plants.
MAKAHA
SCHOOL NEEDS READING TUTORS
Makaha Elementary School is looking for volunteers to help tutor children in reading. The school's STAR (Students to Achieve Reading) Surfers program helps pupils from kindergarten to third grade. A training session will be held at 8 a.m. Sept. 7. For more information, call David Lopes Jr. at 695-7900.
HONOLULU
JAPANESE CONSUL FAREWELL TUESDAY
More than 15 Asian-Pacific and business organizations will co-sponsor a farewell dinner on Tuesday for Japanese Consul General Masatoshi Muto, who will be reassigned to South Korea next month.
Today is the deadline for those who would like to attend the dinner, which takes place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Ballroom. Tickets are $60.
For information or to purchase tickets, call the Japan-America Society of Hawaii at 524-4450.
ARCTIC FILM FESTIVAL SET
The Conservation Council for Hawai'i and several co-sponsors will present the "Arctic Refuge Film Festival," a free event from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at the State Capitol auditorium.
The festival includes movies set in the Arctic, ranging from 10 minutes to 90 minutes, plus a native Alaskan panel discussion from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m.
The movies and starting times are "Being Caribou" at 11:30 a.m.; "Voice From the North" at 1 p.m.; "Caribou Song" at 1:25 p.m.; "Homeland" at 1:40 p.m.; "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins" at 2:10 p.m.; "Oil on Ice" at 2:30 p.m.; "In the Light of Reverence" at 4:10 p.m.; "Pebble Mine" at 5:30 p.m.; and a second showing of "Being Caribou" at 8 p.m.
The panel discussion, moderated by Charles Burrows, includes Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Neets'aii Gwich'in Indians Faith Gemmill and Adeline Peter Raboff, Inupiaq Eskimo Jane Thompson, Inupiaq subsistence hunter Robert Thompson, and Yupiaq Eskimo Mike Williams, who is vice chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council.
For more information, call the Conservation Council for Hawai'i at 593-0255.
KAUA'I
SKATEBOARDER BADLY INJURED
LIHU'E — Police said a skateboarder suffered head injuries Tuesday night when he fell while being towed by a car in Kilauea. The 29-year-old man, whose name was not released, fell while the vehicle was traveling at 20 to 30 miles per hour on Halaulani Place. He was treated at Wilcox Hospital and transported to The Queen's Medical Center for further treatment. Information on his condition was not available.
MANOA
EAST-WEST CENTER DIPLOMAT NAMED
A veteran U.S. diplomat has been selected the East-West Center's Diplomat-in-Residence for the 2005-06 academic year.
James W. Herman most recently was consul general in the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador. His diplomatic career also has taken him to China, Italy, Japan and Guatemala. He first joined the State Department in 1991. Before that, he attended the University of Hawai'i at Manoa where earned a bachelor's degree in political science.
The center selects a midlevel or senior U.S. diplomat to "pursue their intellectual interests while strengthening and enriching the center's policy-oriented research and training activities."
