Maui officer shoots and kills man at Kihei beach
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
KIHEI, Maui — A Maui police officer shot and killed a man Sunday night at a Kihei beach after the man sprayed the officer with a "chemical agent."
It was the fourth shooting involving Maui police in seven months and the second fatal shooting in less than six weeks. On Jan. 23, a patrol officer shot a woman in the head as she was trying to flee in a stolen car in Pa'ia.
The latest shooting happened at 6:15 p.m. Sunday on a stretch of beach about 150 yards south of Lipoa Street. The dead man was identified as Charles Benson Ogden, 48, formerly of Oklahoma. Police said they have been unable to find a local address for him.
The 32-year-old uniformed patrol officer, whose name was not released, was responding to a report of a man sitting close to the beach access with his shorts pulled down around his knees. Ogden reportedly began running or walking away at a fast pace, and when confronted by the officer, he sprayed the officer with a chemical agent, such as pepper spray or Mace. Then the officer shot him.
Ogden was pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Police would not say how many shots were fired or whether Odgen was armed with anything other than the spray. Detectives said they would release additional details today.
The officer, a 9 1/2-year veteran of the Maui Police Department, was treated at Maui Memorial and released. The officer is on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, the usual action in such cases.
An autopsy on Ogden is scheduled for tomorrow.
Until recently, police shootings on Maui were rare.
In the Pa'ia case, two patrol officers shot at Lisa K. Tomita Kaina, 27, as she was trying to flee in a stolen Cadillac DeVille. Police had chased the stolen car on Hana Highway into Pa'ia town. When Kaina was boxed in by police cars on Baldwin Avenue, she drove into a palm tree, a crosswalk sign, a police car and a sport utility vehicle before being shot in the head with a single bullet.
An autopsy indicated she was under the influence of crystal methamphetamine.
The officers involved in the Pa'ia shooting have since returned to work. Police Chief Thomas Phillips said yesterday that although the investigation is continuing, no criminal charges are expected.
On Aug. 26, police wounded a 30-year-man in the right hip after he attacked another man with a samurai sword outside the Longs Drug Store in Kihei. On July 25, an officer responding to an abuse call shot a 25-year-old Kula man in the right shoulder during a struggle in the Waiohuli Hawaiian Homestead subdivision.
Phillips said the spate of shootings reflects an increase in violence in the community, partly fueled by crystal methamphetamine use.
"It's more dangerous out there. We've gone from 25 assaults on police officers five years ago to 135 in 2003," Phillips said. "The nature of crime has changed here. Our officers respond almost every day to cases that could result in deadly force. We make 4,000 or 5,000 arrests a year — it's crazy — and every one of them can turn ugly.
"It's still unusual, and we certainly hope we don't have any more. But the reality is that there are some dangerous people out there."
Police are still examining the "tactical aspects" of how the Pa'ia shooting unfolded, Phillips said, and although no formal training has been implemented as a result of the incident, "we're constantly reviewing our use-of-force issues."
Because of the increase in assaults on officers, the Police Department is seeking money in the upcoming county budget for equipment and training in the use of "nonlethal alternatives," but Phillips said it looks like there may not even be money to buy armored vests for officers.
Contact Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
