MAKENA BEACH ATTACK LEAVES MAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION

Police are seeking the public’s help identifying the suspect or suspects involved in a fight at Makena’s Big Beach that left one man in critical condition early yesterday morning.  Acting Lt. Derek Lee with the Maui Police Department’s criminal investigation division said the 20-year-old male was assaulted by an unknown at around 2:15 Tuesday morning.  Lee said a female acquaintance saw the man lying in the road near the second entrance of Makena Beach, and went to render aid while others fled the scene.  The man was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center in stable condition, but has since been downgraded to critical.  The fight comes on the heels of a separate incident last week Wednesday in which an 18 year old Kihei man was found with a broken jaw, missing teeth and a fractured skull at the bottom of a 60-foot gulch at the Polipoli State Recreation Area.  Last week’s incident also occurred during a late night party, but remains classified as a miscellaneous accident.  Both incidents remain under investigation.  (Posted by Wendy Osher:  Wednesday, December 31, 2008)