POLICE BEAT
Motorcyclist dies of crash injuries
Advertiser Staff
A 62-year-old Wahiawa man died yesterday from injuries he suffered the day before in a motorcycle crash in Makua.
The Honolulu medical examiner's office identified the man as Cyrus Haleamau. He died at 3 p.m. at The Queen's Medical Center.
Haleamau lost control of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle while riding east-bound on Farrington Highway, then veered off the roadway and crashed into a rock mound near Access Road at 2:25 p.m., according to police vehicular homicide investigators.
He and a woman passenger, 42, were ejected on impact. The pair were not wearing helmets.
The woman suffered serious injuries and is at Queen's.
The death is O'ahu's 21st traffic fatality of the year and the first involving a motorcyclist. It also is the fifth death on Farrington Highway in West O'ahu since Feb. 26.
UH EXPLOSIVES LEAD TO INQUIRY
Police have opened a first-degree reckless endangering case following the discovery of several ruptured plastic drink bottles containing an explosive chemical at a dormitory at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
Some of the chemical splashed into the eyes of a 25-year-old man while he was inspecting one of the bottles, police said.
Students reported explosion sounds coming from just outside the Johnson Hall A dormitory at 11:58 p.m. Sunday.
When they went to investigate, they found plastic bottles on the lawn and in a dormitory stairway and called police.
One man picked up a bottle and tilted it back to look inside, spilling liquid into his eye, police said. He washed his eye with water immediately and was treated by Emergency Services crews but he was not hospitalized.
Police Specialized Services Division explosive experts destroyed two unexploded bottles at 4:30 a.m.
Seven chemical reaction devices were found — five that had exploded and two that had failed.
No arrests had been made as of yesterday.
TIPS SOUGHT ABOUT MISSING WOMAN
Police yesterday asked for the public's help in finding a 43-year-old woman missing since March 3.
Stacey Vida was last seen in Salt Lake, getting into a pickup truck driven by a man, between 12:30 and 1 a.m.
Her sister fears Vida may be a victim of foul play.
"It's not like her not to call me or even her daughter (on Maui), who is getting married in four months," said Waldean McCoy, Vida's sister. "No one has seen or heard from her.
McCoy said her sister was born on O'ahu but raised on Maui. Vida has two daughters on Maui and two sons in San Diego. She also has two grandchildren.
"She's a free spirit who likes to party," said McCoy, who reported her sister missing a week ago today.
Vida was wearing blue jeans, a strapless charcoal-colored top and high heels when she left McCoy's house March 2 at 7:30 p.m. to socialize with friends in the Salt Lake area, said McCoy.
Anyone with information can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.
SEA LIFE PARK FIRE SOURCE IDENTIFIED
An electrical fault caused by salt buildup in an outlet started an early morning fire Sunday at Sea Life Park that caused $100,000 damage.
The 3:13 a.m. fire destroyed the changing room at the Reef Tank pavilion, which contained dive helmets and wet suits.
