Wahiawa
boys accused of
attempted murder

The boys are in custody in
the baseball-bat attack
that injured a police officer
and a civilian

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Police seek to charge two Wahiawa boys with attempted first-degree murder for Thursday night's attack on two men involved in a covert police operation.

An undercover officer, 46, and a 30-year-old male civilian who was assisting police are hospitalized with concussions, multiple lacerations and abrasions after being struck repeatedly with baseball bats at about 9:30 p.m. in an alley near the Palm Terrace public housing complex.

Police had four juveniles, ages 15 to 17, and two 18-year-old men in custody by 10 p.m. Thursday. A boy, 16, surrendered to police yesterday at 9 a.m. The suspects, all of whom reside at Palm Terrace, were booked for first-degree robbery.

A 16-year-old boy, described by police as the group leader, and another youth, 17, are facing attempted first-degree murder charges.

Detective Nick Cambra, the lead investigator, said the officer and a "cooperating individual" had gone to Palm Place to purchase stolen computers for the undercover operation.

They were walking in an alley when attacked. The assailants fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

"The alley was very dark," Cambra said. "It was an out-and-out robbery."

The injured officer, a 25-year police veteran assigned to the Narcotics/Vice Division, was participating in the operation because of his association with the "cooperating individual," who had helped set up the meeting with the sellers, police said.

Police recovered a broken wooden bat in the alley, Cambra said.

A wooden and aluminum bat were visible in a car seized by police. The 16-year-old facing the attempted-murder charge was a passenger in the car.

With the assistance of a witness who saw the youths fleeing the scene, police began rounding up suspects quickly. The first arrest occurred about 30 yards from the alley at 9:45 p.m., Cambra said.

"One of them was bragging about it just before he was arrested," Cambra said.

Two brothers, 15 and 17, are booked for resisting arrest. A police sergeant suffered a knee injury when he was knocked down during the arrest at 9:50 p.m.

Chief Lee Donohue said yesterday that backup officers were standing by but did not know where the buy was to take place.

"There was a plan ... for backup but before he could make the call, he was jumped," Donohue said, referring to the undercover officer.