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N. Shore driver
leads cops on
wild chase

A woman will be charged
with attempting to murder two
officers if she is found to
be mentally competent

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

There were five shots fired, two alleged attempts to run over officers, a motor vehicle collision and four cars damaged in a wild encounter between police and a 44-year-old woman motorist on the North Shore.

No one was seriously injured.

The woman was treated at Queen's Hospital for a minor injury to her left shoulder, possibly a graze wound, and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. Her car had three bullet holes in the windshield and two in the front fender.

Police will seek to charge the woman with the attempted murder of two officers if she is found to be mentally competent.

Yesterday's incident began at 11:55 a.m. with a traffic stop fronting 61-212 Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa.

Police Internal Affairs Lt. Gregory Poole said a sergeant and officer driving separate cars were patrolling the beachfront area when they spotted a yellow Toyota with a handbag hanging from the driver's-side door mirror.

The two officers stopped the car.

The blue-and-white cruiser was parked in front of the Toyota, while the sergeant parked his unmarked car in back.

The sergeant was walking toward the Toyota when the woman started her car and drove forward into the cruiser before accelerating in reverse toward the sergeant, Poole said.

"When he saw her coming toward him, the sergeant fired his weapon three times," Poole said. "The lady turned the car and proceeded toward Waimea Bay."

The sergeant and patrol officer followed the suspect car and were joined by a third police unit. Police, meanwhile, were setting up a roadblock before Waimea Bay.

"She saw the roadblock and made a U-turn," Poole said. "She was coming toward the officers.

"One of the blue-and-white units stopped, and the officer got out to direct traffic out of the way. The woman was coming directly at him, so the officer said he fired two rounds."

The woman drove past the officer toward Haleiwa with police in pursuit.

She took the bypass road before going onto Waialua Beach Road, said Poole.

"The speed limit on Waialua Beach Road is 25, and she was doing about 50," Poole said.

A car in front of the suspect vehicle had stopped to turn left at the intersection of Waialua Beach Road and Goodale Avenue.

As another car was turning left from Goodale Avenue onto Waialua Beach Road, the suspect attempted to go around the vehicle in front of her from the right side of the roadway.

The suspect's Toyota clipped the car turning onto Waialua Beach Road and veered off the roadway and into a weed patch. A police cruiser also ended up in the weed patch.

"She was acting very strange and wild," Poole said, referring to the suspect. He said she resisted arrest.

A Waialua woman, whose car was damaged by the suspect, refused medical treatment at the scene, said Poole.