The suspect, Daniel Vesper, 43, was described as 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds. He was wearing camouflage pants and was shirtless at the time.

The events began unfolding about 5:15 p.m. yesterday, as Crime Reduction Unit officers were attempting to arrest the suspect in connection with a Nov. 20 incident in which a man rammed a stolen car into a gate and a car in Kalihi. The man also nearly ran over a 54-year-old woman, police said.

Police said Vesper also may have been involved in an incident Nov. 9 when the driver of a stolen car reversed into a police officer in Kalihi, knocked him over and drove off. The officer had minor injuries.

The suspect was spotted at Honolulu Community College. Police said that as officers moved in to arrest him, the suspect got into a van and raced toward Omai, running over his lower torso and trapping him briefly underneath.

The van left the school parking lot on Dillingham Boulevard near the Costco driveway and sped east on Dillingham, moving against traffic for a distance, a witness said.

"I heard tires screeching and I turned around and saw a van speed up, come directly down the driveway and head straight into traffic," said Chris Rowlings, who was waiting at a nearby bus stop.

Rowlings at first thought someone was stealing the van, "but then I seen two officers running after him and I knew something was really wrong." She said she then saw that someone was down in the parking lot.

The man drove the van, a white Ford Aerostar, to the Punahou area and abandoned it at 1430 Alexander St., police said. Police Capt. Carlton Nishimura said a white Aerostar van was also used in a robbery yesterday morning in the University area.

Police cordoned off the area bounded by Punahou, Dole and Alexander streets and H-1 Freeway. Specialized Services Division officers, some with dogs, searched the neighborhood, which is an area of mid-rise apartment buildings near Punahou School.

Police called off the search about 8:30 p.m. after officers did not find the suspect in a door-to-door search of apartment buildings there.

The search was concentrated in the Punahou neighborhood, but Police Chief Boisse Correa also said an all-points bulletin was issued for the suspect.

Police, who said the suspect was not armed, refuted reports of shots being fired. Even so, police said Vesper was dangerous.

"It's very disheartening and very saddening because we recently had the shooting back in May (at Mayor Wright Homes) with another CRU officer, so it's very upsetting," said police Maj. Susan Ballard, commander of the Kalihi district.

In that shooting, Officer Ermie Barroga Jr. was wounded in a shootout with a fugitive. The fugitive was shot to death by police.

Vesper was on probation and wanted in connection with several felony charges stemming from a Nov. 20 incident, police said. Police said the incident began when two resident managers saw a man in a car trespassing near Robello Lane and North King Street. The man and woman called police and blocked the driveway with a car to prevent the man from leaving.

But the man became agitated and police said he crashed his car into a metal gate and a van. Police said he attempted to maneuver his car between the van and an apartment building when the car got stuck on a concrete block.

Police said the man squeezed out of the car and fled.