Police said a 46-year-old woman and 41-year-old man wanted to sell a van and showed it to a group of acquaintances when one of the men in the group punched the salesman in the face and brandished a handgun. The men then forced the salespeople into the van and then dropped them off at their Ala Napuaa Place home just before 9:30 last night.

The men then fled in the van. This morning, the van was seen in the area of Kamehameha Highway and Kaonohi Street. Police stopped the van and arrested the four occupants.

Woman boards flight with gun

A former Honolulu police officer faces a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a police officer after she allegedly lied to a Hawai'i airport employee about her employment and boarded a plane with her gun last night, police said.

According to police, the 29-year-old woman checked in at the Honolulu International Airport for American Airlines flight 298 bound for Los Angeles at 9:15 last night.

As her baggage was X-rayed, a Sig Sauer 9mm semiautomatic pistol was discovered. At this time, the woman told the airport employee that she was an officer with the Narcotics/Vice Division of the Honolulu Police Department.

She provided a Hawai'i driver's license and a HPD firearms qualification card as identification, but did not provide her HPD badge and HPD photo identification. A state narcotics enforcement agent vouched for the woman being a Honolulu police officer and she was permitted to board the Los Angeles-bound plane.

After the plane departed, the sheriff's department reported the incident to HPD. Police said the woman resigned from the department on Oct. 16 and they notified the FBI.

The woman was detained when the plane landed at the Los Angeles International Airport. She was questioned by the FBI and then released. She was allowed to keep her gun. Honolulu police said they are seeking an arrest warrant on the woman for impersonating a police officer. Her name was not released by police.

Theft of 200-pound safe investigated

Police today were investigating the theft of a 200-pound safe from Jiffy Lube in Punchbowl that contained money and other valuables.

According to police, the theft occurred between 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:20 a.m. Sunday at the Jiffy Lube on 1489 Punchbowl St.

Police said someone broke into the store and stole the safe that had cash, gift certificates and safety check emblems.