A 21-year-old Kalihi man charged with attempted first-degree murder came within inches of hitting two plainclothes police officers with a stolen car before he was shot Saturday morning, according to a police affidavit filed in the case.

Officer Gilbert Yrojo Jr. of the Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit fired three shots from his “supplemental pistol” at Reinier Sales after Sales revved the engine of a stolen Dodge Neon, accelerated and then screeched the car’s tires despite repeated police commands to stop, according to the affidavit.
One bullet went through the car’s windshield and front passenger side window then hit Sales in the upper right armpit area.
Sales was known to police and was suspected of committing several property crimes around Kalihi “due to his heavy use of illegal narcotics,” according to the affidavit.
On Saturday, CRU officers received a tip that Sales was seen driving a stolen, gray Dodge Dakota pick-up truck in Kalihi. They found the stolen truck on the side of the road around Makuahine Place.
Directly in front of the truck was a white, four-door Dodge Neon with the engine on that had a male driver and a female passenger inside.
The officers displayed their badges and identified themselves as police but Sales revved the engine, accelerated and screeched the tires, according to the affidavit.
Sales then hit some hedges along Makuahine Place and struck one of the officer’s vehicles, which nearly hit the officer. Sales then allegedly came within inches of hitting officers George Dalton and Yrojo, according to the affidavit.
“Sales then made a desperate maneuver as he gunned his engine, screeched his tires, and headed straight in the director of Officers Dalton and Yrojo,” according to the affidavit.
The female passenger left the Neon and fled toward the dead end of Makuahine Place, according to the affidavit.
There was not enough space between a fence/hedge, Officer Dalton’s vehicle and a metal street lamp, “making it almost impossible for the Dodge Neon to fit through,” according to the affidavit.
“Sales then began to reposition his vehicle in an attempt to ram through the given barriers,” according to the affidavit. “Sales’ actions consequently placed Officers Dalton and Yrojo in an immediate danger to where Officers Dalton and Yrojo feared for their lives as Sales began to accelerate forward in their direction almost running down both officers at this time.”
Yrojo fired at Sales out of “great fear that he and his partner were going to die because of the limited avenues of space and a reckless vehicle cornering them,” according to the affidavit.
It was the third officer-involved shooting in November that ended with a wounded suspect.
Police charged Sales with attempted first-degree murder, two charges of attempted second-degree murder, one count of unauthorized control of a motor vehicle and first-degree robbery.
Sales has a very minor prior criminal history, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.
In agust this year, he was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a vehicle or property, a misdemeanor. In addition, he was found guilty of driving without a license, a petty misdemeanor.
He was sentenced to 10 days in jail for the leaving the scene conviction and 30 days in jail for the driving without a license charge. The two sentences ran concurrently, the records show.
Sales was also convicted fourth degree criminal property damage, a petty misdemeanor, in September 2008. He was sentenced to two days confinement on that count.
And in December 2007, Sales was found guilty of violating a temporary restraining order as well as harassment, misdemeanors. He was sentenced to 10 days confinement and one year of probation, Criminal Justice Data Center records show.
It is unknown if Sales had a criminal record as a juvenile since records involving minors are off limits to the public in Hawaii.