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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, May 2, 2009

POLICEMAN RESPONDING TO REPORT OF DISPUTE FIRES 1 SHOT AT VEHICLE
Officer injured by fleeing truck

Photo gallery: Police Officer hit by truck in Waianae

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Wai'anae Coast Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The officer, who is assigned to the Wai'anae substation, was treated for injuries to his right foot and ankle and released. The driver of the truck later turned herself in.

Photos by BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

An ambulance was on the scene yesterday shortly after a police officer was hurt while responding to a domestic dispute call in Wai'anae. A truck fleeing the scene ran over the officer's foot, prompting him to fire a shot.

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WAI'ANAE — A police officer responding to a domestic-violence call became a victim himself yesterday when a fleeing pickup truck ran over his foot.

The officer fired a shot and hit the truck, police said. There were no reports of anyone being shot.

The 38-year-old officer was treated at a hospital for injuries to his right foot and ankle, and was released. He is assigned to the Wai'anae substation and has been on the police force for 3 1/2 years, said Maj. Frank Fujii, department spokesman.

Fifty minutes after the 8:30 a.m. incident, a Wai'anae woman turned herself in at the Wai'anae police substation. Norina Rzonca, 33, was booked on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, because a police officer was involved.

Rzonca was also booked for investigation of attempted second-degree murder. Charges were pending.

The incident began when the officer responded to a report of a domestic dispute in a pickup truck near the intersection of Lualualei Homestead Road and Ihuku Street.

Fujii said the officer spotted the pickup and was out of his vehicle when the truck began racing toward him, picking up speed.

"What happened was the driver of the truck made a U-turn and accelerated in the direction of the police officer," Fujii said. "She ran over the officer's right foot and the officer fired one shot, striking the pickup."

Rzonca's mother drove her to the station and she was not in the truck that hit the officer. Before Rzonca was booked, she was taken to the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where she was treated for cuts and scratches to her neck, police said.

Police and fire personnel quickly converged on the scene after the downed officer called dispatch for an ambulance on his car radio.

"I saw the officer lying on the ground over by the curb next to that mailbox," said a witness, Bobby Roberts, who lives across the street from where the officer was hit.

Lena Alensonorin, who lives in the house closest to where the incident took place, also pointed to the curbside.

"I saw him sitting over there," said Alensonorin, who was in her house when the commotion began. "I saw him limping at first when I came outside."

Fujii said it was the fourth time this year that an officer fired his or her weapon in the line of duty. In an April 3 incident near Makiki, police shot and wounded a 45-year-old woman who allegedly lunged at officers with metal objects. She recovered and was charged with terroristic threatening.

"Any time an officer feels that his life or someone else's life is in imminent threat, we're actually duty-bound to draw our weapons," Fujii said. "In this case, the facts speak for themselves."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.