Officer tells court of deadly encounter

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Plainclothes police officer Calvin Sung and his partner Glen Gaspar displayed their badges to identify themselves while they moved in to arrest Shane Mark, but the fugitive reached for a gun in his pocket and fired two shots that mortally wounded Gaspar, Sung testified yesterday.

Officer Calvin Sung takes the stand in the murder trial of Shane Mark, who is charged with fatally shooting Officer Glen Gaspar on March 4. Sung and Gaspar were in civilian clothes when they attempted to arrest Mark. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Sung took the witness stand at the first-degree murder trial of Mark, 29, who is accused of shooting Gaspar during a struggle at the Kapolei Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop March 4. The trial before Circuit Judge Karen Ahn will resume today.

Sung's testimony is contrary to the defense's claim that Mark did not know that the two were police officers. Deputy Public Defender Debra Loy has said Mark believed that they were two other men retaliating for a Feb. 1 shooting in 'Aiea and possibly trying to kill him.

Sung testified that he and five other officers went to the Baskin-Robbins shop to arrest Mark in connection with the 'Aiea incident. The plan, Sung said, was for him and Gaspar to "contain" Mark in the store and arrest him.

Sung said the officers were under the impression that Mark would be unarmed and would be easily arrested. As they approached Mark, Sung said, Gaspar lifted his aloha shirt to show his police badge, which was clipped to his belt, and Sung did the same.

Sung testified that Mark then put his right hand in his pants pocket. Sung said he believed that Mark was reaching for a weapon.

"If I remember correctly, I said, 'Put your hands up! Police!' " Sung testified. Gaspar then said they needed to talk with him about something, but Mark said, " 'Shut up,' or something, toward us," Sung testified.

It was then that Gaspar grabbed Mark's left arm and Sung reached for Mark's right arm. But Mark was "very strong" and pulled away, according to Sung.

Sung said that during the struggle, he and Gaspar shouted several times that Mark was under arrest and that he should stop resisting. But Mark managed to free his right arm from Sung and fire two shots at Gaspar at point-blank range.

The city medical examiner, Dr. Kanthi von Guenthner, testified yesterday that one of the shots was fired at "contact" range, meaning the barrel was against Gaspar's shirt. Either wound would have been fatal, she said.

Mark continued to struggle and fired a third shot, which lodged in Gaspar's gun belt. Sung testified that at one point Mark curled his arm and pointed the gun at Sung's face.

"He was pointing the muzzle of the gun toward me and my face, which was less than 10 inches away," Sung said. "I felt he was going to shoot me."

Seeing the struggle, Detective Kenneth Higa ran into the store and placed a bear hug on Mark. Higa managed to grab Mark's gun.

Also testifying yesterday was Melissa Sennett, Mark's former girlfriend and mother of their 11-year-old daughter, Shansy.

Sennett had called police earlier March 4 to say she was meeting Mark in Kapolei to give him a last chance to see their daughter. Sennett was returning to Kansas, where she lives with her boyfriend and Shansy.

Sennett testified that when she was in the ice cream shop, she heard one of the officers saying, "Shane Mark. You need to come with us. You're under arrest." But she testified that the officers' backs were to her and she did not see whether they showed their badges.

When the struggle began, Sennett said, her primary goal was to get her daughter out of harm's way. She said that when she had agreed to meet with Mark, she didn't think the officers or her family would be in danger.

"I didn't think he'd bring a gun. I didn't think anything would go wrong," Sennett testified. "Who would think you'd bring a gun to meet your daughter?"

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.