LANIKAI — An alleged case of vandalism and a subsequent car chase in Lanikai has stirred a stew of powerful emotions among neighbors and people around O'ahu.

Online forums, call-in radio shows and letters to the editor have been filled with angry opinions over who's to blame: four football players from Saint Louis School or Gerard Jervis, the former Bishop Estate trustee who allegedly chased their sport utility vehicle in his black BMW just before the SUV crashed into a guy wire.

Neighbors who say they have suffered for decades from eggings of cars, boats and homes understand what spurred Jervis.

"I'm glad he did that," said Kimo Vierra, 33, who has lived in Lanikai all his life. "Too bad he got arrested, but somebody had to teach them a lesson. These guys drive around vandalizing property. I had to repaint my boat one time because the (egg) took off all the gel coat. It cost me $3,000."

But other people thought Jervis should have left the matter to police.

"I think Jervis went too far," wrote Jenny Seras on an Advertiser online forum. "He could have really hurt someone or himself."

ARRAIGNMENT TODAY

Jervis, 59, and his wife were sitting in their Onekea Street yard late Friday when the egging incident occurred, according to Jervis' attorney.

Kamaka Jervis, who answered the door at Gerard Jervis' home yesterday and identified himself as the attorney's son, said his father was resting and didn't want to comment, but Kamaka Jervis gave a possible reason that his father went after the teenagers.

"An egg came inches from his wife's head," said Kamaka Jervis.

Jervis is scheduled to appear for his arraignment and plea in District Court at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.

The four accused football players are all 17, according to police. The Advertiser has decided not to name them.

The driver of the SUV is being investigated for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Police took a sample of his blood after the crash.

Saint Louis School said in a statement that it is in the process of gathering information about what happened Friday night.

"We are going to talk to the boys and parents and assess the situation," said Jodi-Anne Yoshida, the school's director of communications. "Until then, we won't speculate on what the boys did or didn't do."

Police said this incident was their only report of egging in Lanikai this year, but they have received egging reports from elsewhere.

"It might be happening but it's not being reported," said acting Maj. Nyles Dolera, of Honolulu Police Department District 4. "I encourage those guys to give us a call."

Vierra said the problem is frequent and he has the damage to prove it. Two years ago, his new truck was egged the night he brought it home. The egg shell cut into the paint, leaving concentric circles in three places.

His fishing boat was hit last weekend — probably by the same youths who threw eggs at Jervis' home, he speculated. Eggshells stuck to the side of the boat, and the remains of a broken egg lay in its bow.

"It's a common thing here every weekend," Vierra said, adding that people who park on the main roads, Mokulua and A'alapapa drives, get hit the most. "Sometimes you pass by like Saturday early morning you see cars with broken windows, eggs plastered all over windows, houses, hedges, walls and fences."

Lanikai resident Roger Tansley and Soonie Yee Hoy, who lives next door to Jervis, said they haven't suffered from the problem personally but they are aware of it.

"Calling the police was the thing to do," Jane Morris, a longtime Lanikai resident, said of Jervis' alleged actions.

Once you begin a chase, what will you do, Morris asked. "How do you stop them, unless you ram them with your car?"

THEORIES ABOUND

Dan Morgan, who teaches urban sociology at Hawai'i Pacific University, called the incident "a reflection of our society."

"We've moved from a society in Honolulu where you used to know your neighbors to one in which your neighbor has become a stranger and an inconvenience and sometimes an impediment, even though they're not really," he said. "Ask anyone who's lived here a long time, they'll guarantee you that it's less friendly than it was 50 years ago and it's less friendly than it was 20 years ago."

All the emotions over the case reflect a growing sense of powerlessness in a faster, more hectic Island society, said UH psychology professor Leon James.

"People who feel frustrated or threatened need" a way to safely vent their emotions, James said.

Virginia Enos, a Lanikai resident for 14 years and its representative on the Kailua Neighborhood Board, said when she moved into Lanikai, she was warned about the egging. Back then it happened only at Halloween. Now it happens all year, said Enos, who said she has been hit twice.

Incidents are called in but the police are busy with higher priorities and need more officers to handle all the problems, she said.

"I will tell you that calling the police a lot of times is a joke," unless you have a high priority problem or they are not busy, Enos said. "The police are terribly understaffed. It's not the police's fault. It's the City Council's fault we don't have enough police officers."

Enos said she can understand Jervis chasing the teens and felt others would do it too.

"I could see how that would happen to any enraged neighbor who's had it," she said, adding that this will show kids that "we're sick and tired of it."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.