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SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
Police commission in the dark, too
DEPARTMENT WON’T SHARE INFO ON EVIDENCE THEFT INVESTIGATION WITH BOARD
Tamara “Rainbow” Tavernier rescues a wild boar from Kealakekua Bay. JANE PITTENGER/COURTESY PHOTOS
KEALAKEKUA BAY — It
was another morning Derrick
Carvalho just planned to relax at
Kealakekua Bay when he spotted
something peculiar. Something
was swimming in circles offshore,
struggling to stay afloat.
Upon further examination, he
was surprised to spot a bewildered
boar, fighting to keep its
flailing body above the surface.
It didn’t seem like there was
much fight left in the animal,
either. Crashing around 75 feet
from shore, at times only its snout
poked above surface.
“It looked tired,” Carvalho said.
Jim and Jane Pittenger, visiting
from Florence, Oregon, were
next to happen on the scene. And
what they saw Wednesday morning
alarmed them.
“Clearly disoriented,” Jim said
the boar’s head sunk lower with
each turn. When the boar tried
to swim toward land, it retreated,
seemingly afraid of the surf.
There were also times when its
whole head was under water.
“There’s nothing like watching
an animal slowly drown,” Jim
said. “It’s such a sad and pathetic
experience, getting sadder and
sadder.”
That’s when local artist
Tamara Tavernier, also known as
Rainbow, joined the beach crowd
around 7:30 a.m., a half hour or
so after Carvalho first noticed the
animal.
Carvalho, who knew Rainbow
as an avid swimmer from the
area, asked if she could save it.
After viewing the boar through
binoculars, Rainbow swam out
with a rope, approaching the animal
head on. Jim worried that
Rainbow would not be able to
swim to the rescue in time.
KAILUA-KONA — A Hawaii
County police official refused
to field questions from the
Police Commission when asked
about a missing drug evidence
investigation.
“I won’t comment,” Deputy
Chief Kenneth Bugado Jr.
said to commissioners Friday
morning at the West Hawaii
Civic Center. “It’s an ongoing
investigation.”
Commission Chairman
Peter Hendricks responded to
Bugado saying transparency is
important in these types of situations.
The deputy chief agreed
with him.
On Thursday, the department
released information
that a former Hawaii County
police officer was a person
of interest after drugs were
found missing from evidence.
The initial investigation began
in October 2017. According to
authorities, cocaine recovered
as evidence in 2014 was found
to be lighter than reported
during its initial recovery.
According to a police release,
it states the discrepancy was
discovered when the evidence
was being weighed in preparation
to utilize a small quantity of
the drug for training purposes.
At the time of the investigation,
the release indicates, the
officer was immediately placed
on administrative leave without
pay. Audits of other evidence
recovered by the officer
revealed “other anomalies,
which revealed cases whereby
there was a weight discrepancy
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in marijuana concentrate,
(hashish), from two separate
investigations.”
The officer has since retired
from the
department.
Hawaii County
Prosecutor Mitch
Roth said he
believed the individual
retired
this year; however,
it could
have been at
the end of 2017.
Roth didn’t know if the former
employee was
receiving retirement
benefits.
In an interview
on Hawaii Public
Radio, Ferreira
said the officer
held the rank of
detective. The former officer’s
years of service were not disclosed.
The officer’s identity was
also not released, nor was the
amount of drugs missing.
SEE CORAL PAGE 6A
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INSIDE
TALKING
BIG GAME
Many on Trump’s
new conservation
board are
trophy hunters
PAGE 3A
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SWEETEST
SIXTEEN
No. 16 UMBC
stuns No. 1
Virginia to
make NCAA
tourney history
SPORTS, 1B
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HI 83 LO 72 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 76 16 PAGES
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
Coral could be
endangered
species
PETITION SEEKS
PROTECTION FOR
CAULIFLOWER TYPE
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — Following a threeyear
stretch of the worst bleaching
events in recorded history that decimated
roughly half of Hawaii’s corals, one
species nearly extinct across the islands
may be about to receive an improved
chance at new life.
The Center for Biological Diversity
petitioned the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) Wednesday to afford
protection to cauliflower coral under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Cauliflower coral — formerly the
state’s most abundant shallow water
species, which made it more susceptible
to the thermal stress that caused the
bleaching — was nearly wiped out following
the 2015 bleaching event.
Ferreira
Roth
SEE EVIDENCE PAGE 7A
RAINBOW TO THE RESCUE
LOCAL ARTIST SAVES DROWNING BOAR AT KEALAKEKUA BAY
BY GITA HOWARD
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ghoward@westhawaiitoday.com
A boar makes it to shore at Keakakekua Bay after
SEE BOAR ASHORE PAGE 6A being rescued by Tamara “Rainbow” Tavernier.
A partially bleached cauliflower
coral is pictured at Kua Bay. CHELSEA
JENSEN/WEST HAWAII TODAY
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