Posted on: Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Knife-wielding man dies in Mililani incident

Associated Press

A man brandishing a knife who disrupted a girls' softball tournament died after being taken into custody by police.

After trying to stab a woman, the man was subdued Sunday night at Kipapa Park in Mililani by about a dozen coaches and parents, including two off-duty police officers, witnesses said.

One of the officers and another person hit the 24-year-old man with baseball bats while disarming him, the witnesses said.

The man became unconscious on the way to the police station in Wahiawa, police said. He was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

One of the off-duty officers told television station KHON that he believed reasonable force had been used.

An autopsy will be performed.

Barnabas Sotelo, a coach at the tournament, said the man had been foaming at the mouth while waiving the knife, punching parked cars and mentioning Bible verses.

Before the man was disarmed, he went up to a woman and cut a box of trophies she was carrying, Sotelo said.