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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, April 12, 2008

SHOOTING
Maui suspect dies in police raid

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Maui police investigators examined a Toyota sedan driven by a man who attempted to flee yesterday when police tried to issue a search warrant in Makawao. The man was found dead after police opened fire when the car hit three officers.

AMANDA COWEN | Maui News via Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

George H. Brittain Jr.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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MAKAWAO, Maui — A 38-year-old man was killed and three police officers injured yesterday when vice officers tried to execute a narcotics search warrant at a home at 241 Ho'omaha Road in Makawao.

Police last night identified the man as George H. Brittain Jr. of Makawao.

Police arrived at the home at 6 a.m. and Brittain allegedly tried to run down the officers with a vehicle, striking several officers, said Lt. Wallace Tom of the Maui Police Department. Police then fired shots at the vehicle, Tom said.

Brittain, with a 17-year-old girl in the vehicle, drove to a nearby residence off Kealaloa Avenue. Police found him dead in the car.

An autopsy determined that Brittain died of internal bleeding caused by a gunshot wound, police said.

Three officers sustained minor injuries. They were treated at Maui Memorial Medical Center and released.

The girl was taken into custody by police for questioning and later transported to a youth detention center on O'ahu, Tom said. Police said they are related through immediate relatives, but did not elaborate.

Police said Brittain was not a resident of either the home at Ho'omaha Road or the one at Kealaloa Avenue. Brittain was an acquaintance of the residents of the Ho'omaha Road home, police said.

Police said they executed a search warrant at the Ho'omaha Street home and found crystal methamphetamine, marijuana, various types of pills and drug pipes.

Brittain was wanted on two outstanding warrants, police said. The first was a $50,000 warrant for methamphetamine trafficking, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license. The second was a no-bail warrant for parole violation.

Brittain had 10 criminal convictions, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice data Center. Offenses he was convicted of include possession of prohibited weapons, unlawfully carrying a firearm, felony theft and auto theft.