More than 1,500 warrants have yet to be served on defendants facing felony charges who have managed to flee or otherwise avoid Honolulu police, sometimes for years.

Of the tens of thousands of bench warrants for criminal and traffic cases that have yet to result in arrests, the felony warrants are the most worrisome since they can involve charges of murder, armed robbery, rape and other assaults.

Honolulu police focus their resources on serving these warrants and successfully arrest hundreds of individuals each year. In September, for example, which police say was a typical month, 123 felony warrants were served.

But the 1,500 pending felony warrants, a number based on data from the state Sheriff Division and Honolulu police, remain among the primary reasons why law enforcement officials view the escalating unserved warrants, some dating to the 1980s, with concern.

Among the warrants are nearly 1,000 for defendants who were indicted by the O'ahu grand jury and who are wanted so they can be held or released on bail pending their trials.

Police could not say if any of the warrants in their hands involve murder without going through each individually. Judiciary officials also said the courts could not readily say how many of the warrants deal with murder because its computer programs aren't set up to isolate charges such as homicide.

But at least one is for a manslaughter charge and at least three are for negligent homicide involving traffic deaths, according to the Honolulu Police Department's December list of warrants, the latest information available.

The manslaughter charge involves Juvenal A. Llaneza, who was indicted in the death of Eric Mausert. According to the indictment, Llaneza stabbed Mausert on Feb. 22, 1979, recklessly killing him. Llaneza was indicted on June 5, 1979, but his attorney said he had left for the Philippines. The state attorney general's office is reviewing the case to see if Llaneza can be extradited to Honolulu to face the charge.

The three charged with first-degree negligent homicide, causing the death of someone after driving a vehicle while intoxicated, are: