Eight-hour standoff in McCully ends peacefully
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Heavily armed police fired pepper gas into a McCully apartment to force out a man who held them at bay for more than eight hours yesterday.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The man had barricaded himself in his third-floor apartment at 910 Pumehana St. shortly after 10 a.m.
Members of HPD's Specialized Services Division wait out a man who barricaded himself in his apartment yesterday after police responded to a domestic abuse call. The man surrendered at about 6:25 p.m.
Lt. Alan Anami said the man had threatened officers with a knife after they responded to a domestic argument call.
The man's wife, who was punch-ed at least once, managed to flee and was not seriously injured. Their three children were not home.
Police blocked streets while negotiators tried to persuade the man to give up. Members of the Specialized Services Division, with machine guns and shields, waited outside.
SSD Maj. Mike Brede said negotiators talked to the man for about six hours, but the communication "wasn't anything meaningful."
Things came to a head at about 5:55 p.m. when SSD officers broke several bedroom jalousies and fired at least six rounds of OC gas, which is similar to pepper spray. Rather than giving up, the man shouted and threw objects at the officers.
An SSD officer could be heard asking the man to give up peacefully. "Take the first step, Cal," the officer said. "I know you need help. I know it's not your fault."
At about 6:25 p.m., the shirtless man appeared at the front door and talked to the officers. He then went back in the apartment, and came out with a T-shirt on.
After lighting a cigarette, he leaned on a railing for a while then gave up peacefully. Brede said the man, who has at least one prior domestic abuse arrest, faces charges of first-degree terroristic threatening and abuse of a household member.
