Posted on: Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Maui police quiet on sex charges
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau
WAILUKU, Maui — Maui Police Department officials yesterday declined to say what evidence led a grand jury to indict a police officer on charges that he attempted to force a woman into sexual acts following a traffic stop.
Won, 25, was indicted by a Maui grand jury Friday on charges of attempted sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted extortion. He turned himself in at the Wailuku police station Monday afternoon and yesterday remained in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Maui Police Chief Tom Phillips said the victim, a Hispanic woman who speaks little English, told police she was taken to the Napili community police office by Won on July 28 after a traffic stop on Lower Honoapi'ilani Road in Kahana.
Department policy specifies that anyone placed under arrest must be taken immediately to the district's police station, the chief said. In West Maui, that station is in Lahaina.
The woman said that once inside the Napili office, Won closed the door and used hand gestures to indicate she must engage in certain sexual acts or be arrested, he said. The victim said she refused the officer's advances and no sexual contact occurred.
Phillips said Won then handcuffed the woman and transported her back to the scene of the traffic stop, notifying dispatch at 9:46 a.m. that he was transporting a woman in custody to the Lahaina Police Station. The woman was arrested for driving without a valid driver's license and insurance and for having an expired safety check. Phillips said the charges appear to be valid.
The woman was released from custody at 2:30 p.m. after posting $407 bail. Later that day, she told her story to another police officer who spoke to her in Spanish, Phillips said.
Won, who was put on leave as soon as the internal investigation began July 28, joined the force in May 2002 after graduating from the department's recruit class. He was assigned to Lahaina District a year ago but spent most of his time working at the Wailuku Police Station before being sent back to Lahaina in June.
Phillips described Won's arrest as a "huge disappointment," but then said: "Any agency as large as ours is going to have some problems."
Nevertheless, he said, the public can trust the Maui Police Department to do the right thing when confronted with such internal strife.
Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
They did say, however, that officer Aaron Won allegedly violated department policy when he failed to report the traffic stop to police dispatch and, also without notification, took the 27-year-old Lahaina woman to the Napili community police office, where the alleged attempted assault took place.
Aaron Won
