Shootout suspects
part of theft ring,
police say

Dead man was suspected in
crash of stolen 'Humvee'
one day before shootout

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By Rod Antone
Star Bulletin

Honolulu police reports state that at least two of the suspects involved in a shootout with officers Tuesday are part of an auto-theft ring that stole new cars from a local shipping company.

Police said at least 13 cars had been stolen since the beginning of this month from Pier 40, where Young Brothers Ltd. operates.

One of the three suspects, 28-year-old Samuel Hao, was to appear in state District Court this morning on outstanding arrest warrants from unrelated cases.

Two of the suspects, Bernadette Oili, also known as Bernadette Laa, and Jesse Ani, were arrested for auto theft in connection with the theft ring, but had not been charged as of this morning.

Oili confessed to two separate auto thefts in relation to the case, police said.

Police also are investigating whether Oili's husband, Levi Esperas, also known as Levi Laa, was involved in a car accident in Makakilo on Monday while driving a stolen Humvee.

A woman and her 12-year-old daughter were in their Ford Escort when the Humvee crashed down on the hood.

Neither person was injured, but the owner of the Escort told the Star-Bulletin the Humvee's driver merely looked at his wife, asked someone at a nearby bus stop if they were OK, then ran off.

Police shot Esperas the next day after Esperas had fired at officers with a 12-gauge shotgun, wounding two of them, police said.

Esperas died later at Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi of gunshot wounds to the liver and lung.

One of the officers Esperas shot was treated and released. The other, Robert Steiner, remained in the Queen's Medical Center after being hit in the left hand with a shotgun blast at close range.

Prior to the shooting, police said Esperas, Oili, Ani and Samuel Hao were in a stolen van speeding and weaving in and out of traffic on the H-1 freeway near Manager's Drive.

Police pursued the van to Waipio, where it crashed into a concrete barrier while the driver tried to cross a grassy median of the H-2 freeway. Police shot Esperas and arrested Hao and Ani. Police arrested Oili the following day after an unsuccessful 10-hour search for her the night before.

All three surviving suspects were being investigated for possible first-degree attempted-murder charges, which carry a term of life in prison without parole. But a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said at this point it appears unlikely they will be charged with that crime.

They also are still under investigation for the alleged theft of the van involved in the shooting.

Auto theft investigators were putting together other charges last night involving the stolen-car ring.