Greene, who police said was shot once in the stomach, remains hospitalized and faces multiple counts on charges of attempted murder, car theft, driving without a license and criminal property damage. Court records show Greene was arrested Sept. 12 on suspicion of car theft.

Garcia was arrested last night on an outstanding traffic warrant and theft charges. He has been on probation for a forgery conviction.

The Honolulu Police Department did not release the names of the officers involved, but said none sustained serious injuries. All are seasoned officers in their 30s.

The chase culminated in Pearl City, at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Acacia Road, at around 11:14 a.m. It began in Kunia when Randon Pascua, 18, said he noticed his 1993 Honda Civic had been stolen, Pascua said yesterday.

A paramedic checks a police officer at the scene of the stolen-car chase. One officer had a foot run over; another was knocked down. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Mata gave chase in a Dodge Neon and relayed locations to Pascua, who, talking on two phones simultaneously, passed the information along to police. Mata could not keep up with Pascua's modified Honda, but police soon were in pursuit.

"It all went down in the course of about 12 minutes," said HPD Assistant Chief Robert Prasser. He said plainclothes officers in the crime reduction unit caught up with the Honda when it slowed in an eastbound lane of Kamehameha Highway near Sam's Club.

Prasser said an unmarked van forced the Honda to the curb, and officers got out and identified themselves. The suspects tried to turn around — at one point driving over the sidewalk near a bus stop — ramming Adelina Cabagbag's white Honda Civic, then sideswiping a black Ford Ranger driven by Philip Stout of Mililani.

"That's when about six or seven plainclothes police officers were surrounding him with their guns drawn," said Stout, 23. "And then he started driving through them. It looked like he ran over one of them, and one of them fell down."

"The two men in the car hit the windshield," said Stout. "I believe the driver was shot in the belly. The driver was quite bloody; his whole face was covered with blood. He was lying on the ground after the cops pulled him out of the car, and he was yelling, 'I like die!' "

Stout said he was stunned when one officer on the scene told him he had arrested the same man a month ago for a similar crime. He said he understood why police had to shoot.

"I was actually very scared, especially when I heard the shots. I didn't want a stray bullet to hit me. But I do understand why they shot him, because he had absolutely no regard for anyone around him. He was trying to do anything to get away. ... He could have hurt those police officers. The guy was driving like a maniac, and he could have totally hurt other people if he had gotten away."

Neither Stout nor Cabagbag was injured.

Prasser's description backed up Stout's account. He said the suspects, trying to make what he called "the great escape," ran over one officer's leg or foot, knocked another into the street, and either hit or narrowly missed three others.

He said one shot was fired and hit the driver in the stomach, who kept driving until he crashed into the cruiser. He said that, given the circumstances and the threat to public and police safety, he commended the officers' behavior in handling the situation.

"Internal Affairs will investigate this case as well as Criminal Investigation, because it is a police-involved shooting," Prasser said.

He said the officer who fired the shot would be put on administrative leave as a matter of standard procedure.

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.