honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Kauai police use Taser after 5-hour standoff

Advertiser Staff

KILAUEA, Kaua'i — Police yesterday used a Taser to subdue an armed 27-year-old Kilauea man who commandeered a police car for five hours yesterday morning, prompting the closures of a road and two schools.

Authorities charged Kaleo Lovell "Kountry" Martin with nine counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, one count of abuse of a family member, three counts of criminal property damage and one count of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

Yesterday's standoff began about a half-hour after police were sent to Martin's home on Kilauea Road following a report of a domestic dispute.

Martin left his home before police arrived but returned about 5:15 a.m. He went into the police vehicle, which was in his front yard, and refused to come out or surrender his weapon. It was not disclosed what type of weapon he had.

Martin was subdued with a Taser — which sends an incapacitating electrical current through the body — after he got out of the police car. Martin was arrested at 10:28 a.m.

Martin was taken to Wilcox Hospital to be examined. He was being held at the police cellblock.

During the standoff, police closed a section of Kilauea Road between Titcomb and Rock Quarry roads and evacuated residents in the immediate area. Two schools — Kaua'i Christian Academy and Kilauea Lighthouse School — were closed during the incident.