Posted at 12:06 p.m., Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Police charge man in pellet gun incident
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Tela, 27, is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, police said.
Tela allegedly pointed a pistol, which police have described as a replica gun, at an officer investigating a minor traffic collision involving Tela and another motorist on Harding and 6th avenues.
Lt. Bill Kato said today that he was awaiting findings on firearm lab tests on Tela’s gun to see if it had been converted from a pellet or BB gun into one that could fire a real bullet.
"Based on witnesses’ and officers’ statements, it’s highly likely the gun discharged a bullet," Kato said of Tela’s weapon.
Police are investigating whether Tela fired a shot at two officers after fleeing on foot from the accident scene. Police recovered .22-caliber ammunition near where Tela allegedly fired a shot at the officers from a garage, said Kato.
Tela, who was shot once in the shoulder by a police officer after drawing the pistol from a fanny pack at the accident scene, was arrested on a $10,000 parole-revocation warrant on 9th Avenue.
