Posted on: Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Police role in death of man under investigation
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
A police officer drove a man, who had been brandishing knives at people and kicking officers, to an emergency room after his arrest Sunday. But when the man put up a fight, the officer left the hospital and drove the man to the police station.
KHON The medical examiner is awaiting test results before determining what caused Silva's death.
Witnesses who saw Silva behave erratically and threaten a woman at Kipapa Park in Mililani speculated he may have been on drugs, acting Police Chief Glen Kajiyama said yesterday.
People at the park who restrained and disarmed him before police arrived — a group that may have included off-duty police officers — used baseball bats to subdue him.
Kajiyama said police are investigating those reports and whether the decision to delay taking Silva to the hospital was proper.
He would not confirm that some of the people involved, most of whom were attending the 2004 Hawai'i Bobby Sox girls' softball tournament, were off-duty police officers.
Police continue to investigate how many bats were used as well as whether, where and how many times Silva may have been struck.
Silva's mother, Carol, was struggling to deal with her grief yesterday when reached by telephone at her home in the Moanalua area.
"Kevin had some problems," she said, "but he was good. He had a good heart for everyone."
Witnesses have said Silva was pounding cars and calling out to God as he approached the park, then used a kitchen knife to attempt to stab a woman who was attending the tournament.
The woman deflected the blows and others intervened. Kajiyama said he didn't think the woman and Silva knew each other.
When police arrived, Silva was combative and screaming as he was handcuffed, placed in leg irons and loaded into a police car, Kajiyama said. Two kitchen knives, each over 4 inches long, were taken as evidence.
Kajiyama said Silva, once at the hospital, fought an officer's efforts to remove him from the car.
"Because (Silva) had no visible injuries," Kajiyama said, "the decision was made to take him to the Wahiawa police station."
Silva was "unresponsive" upon arrival, Kajiyama said. Emergency Medical Services was called and paramedics took Silva back to Wahiawa General, where he was pronounced dead.
Michelle Yu, a police spokeswoman, said that because Silva died in police custody, an Internal Affairs investigation has been launched. Only one officer was in the car that took Silva to the police station, and that officer remains on normal duty.
Silva had four petty misdemeanor convictions.
In March 2001 he was arrested for disorderly conduct, convicted and fined $25.
In May of that year, he was arrested for two counts of harassment and sentenced to 30 days in jail. A six-month sentence was suspended.
In May 2002, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was convicted but his Criminal Justice Data Center records show no sentencing information.
The Mililani man, Kevin J. Silva, 24, was unconscious before he reached the Wahiawa station. He was dead by the time an ambulance got him back to Wahiawa General Hospital, just over a block away.
Kevin Silva, 24, died Sunday.
