Crime

Hawaiʻi lawmakers passed the state budget Wednesday that includes $30 million to hire a developer to build a new jail to replace the deteriorating and overpopulated Oʻahu Community Correctional Center.

State lawmakers are moving bills that aim to punish and deter the use of illegal fireworks. A pair of fireworks measures passed through conference hearings last week, among the final hurdles for bills going through the state legislative process.

A pair of measures, namely Senate Bills 763 and 1249, would strengthen penalties, create a dedicated group of state officers, and establish a special fund all to better prevent and punish agricultural crimes like theft and vandalism.

Officer Austin Ewaliko, a five-year veteran of HPD, allegedly used the department's internal system to research the case and then provided confidential information to suspects.

Gerhardt Konig's wife alleges they were hiking in Honolulu last month when he grabbed her by the arms and started pushing her toward the edge of a cliff before attempting to inject her with a syringe and then bashing her head with a rock.

Police say a Maui doctor tried to use two syringes on his wife after pushing her off an Oʻahu hiking trail and hitting her head with a rock.

Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen noted that local children who run away from their families face the highest risk of being trafficked because of their vulnerability and lack of stability.

Survivors from the New Year's illegal fireworks explosion in Āliamanu have been discharged from acute care at the Arizona Burn Center. The five burn patients are expected to make a full recovery and return to Hawaiʻi in the coming weeks to months.

Hawaiʻi County police say the suspect in an officer-involved shooting on Friday is dead. Christopher Lucrisia, 39, was the subject of an island-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting and wounding a police officer.

A Utah judge has ordered the release of a 66-year-old suspect in the 1977 killing of a Hawaiʻi teenager after prosecutors in Honolulu said they weren’t ready to proceed with a murder charge against him.