The Police Chief collapsed at
a police academy event

Police Chief collaped at By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

Police Chief Lee Donohue is in serious but stable condition at St. Francis-West Hospital after he collapsed during a competition at the police academy.

"He's alert and doing well," said Deputy Police Chief William Clark.

"The chief is a fine, physically fit person. I'm sure he'll be up and around in no time."

Donohue was participating in one of the phases of the "Fit for Life" competition at the Waipahu academy and was practicing arrest tactics, according to Clark.

He sat down and was watching the competition from the bleachers when he collapsed. Officers used a defibrillator and administered CPR, and he was taken to the hospital for observation and tests.

The chief's hospitalization came after fire crews this morning responded to a cardiac arrest call at the academy at 10:39 a.m.

However, neither police nor fire personnel would say whether Donohue suffered a heart attack or not.

The academy was closed for the day and recruits there were sent home.

Clark said he and Deputy Chief Michael Carvalho would assume the chief's duties while Donohue is hospitalized.

Donohue was named as Honolulu's eighth police chief in April 1998, when he was 55.