Police Beat
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Man charged with stealing car
A 20-year-old Halawa man who is accused of using a baseball bat to steal a rental car from two visitors from Japan on Friday has been charged with armed robbery. Kaleokalani Yamada will be arraigned Thursday in District Court.
He was released over the weekend after posting $50,000 bail.
Yamada was arrested by police at 3:45 a.m. Friday in the parking lot of Hale Aloha Lokelani dormitory at 2579 Dole St. with the help of University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus security officers.
According to a police affidavit, UH security officer Kathleen Nicholson saw a damaged white Subaru station wagon enter the dorm parking lot about 2:45 a.m. Nicholson called for assistance when she saw the car's two male occupants searching through luggage, the report said.
As Nicholson and security officer Albert Teixira approached the car, they heard Yamada tell his accomplice to run while he allegedly attempted to grab a baseball bat. The security officers disarmed Yamada and held him for police. The man who fled is still at large.
Police officers identified the Subaru as the vehicle stolen in a 2:30 a.m. robbery at the Honolulu Zoo's parking lot. Two Japanese men, ages 25 and 24, told police they were confronted by two men with baseball bats. The attackers broke the driver- and passenger-side windows with the bats and demanded the visitors to get out of the car, the police report said.
Yamada was identified by the visitors as the man who drove off in the car, the affidavit said.
Other than cuts on their arms from shattered glass, the visitors were not injured.
Officer's vehicle hit during chase
A police officer assigned to East Honolulu patrol was not injured today when his vehicle was hit in Kapahulu while he was chasing three men in a stolen car. Police called off the chase at 7:39 a.m. on Kaimuki Avenue near Market City because they were concerned about public safety. Police said the chase was not at high speeds and lasted for 11 minutes.
The chase started when a blue, two-door Honda Civic attracted the attention of the officer on Kalaniana'ole Highway at 'Aina-koa Avenue. The officer checked the license plate number and discovered the car was stolen.
The driver of the stolen car refused to stop. The officer followed the car onto the H-1 Freeway, off the Kapi'olani Boulevard exit and onto Kaimuki Avenue. The suspects are still at large.
Man accused of road rage
Police yesterday arrested a 56-year-old man in connection with an alleged road-rage incident on Kalaniana'ole Highway and Ulu-puni Street in Windward O'ahu.
An 18-year-old woman told police that the man forced her off the roadway, threatened her and broke her cellular phone in a 4:25 p.m. confrontation.
