Police charge
two shootout suspects
with auto theft

Levi Esperas, who died in the
shootout, is suspected of
stealing a Humvee

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By Rod Antone
Star Bulletin

A man shot by police on Tuesday may have stolen a military Humvee several weeks earlier by driving it through the fence of a local shipping company.

Honolulu police are still investigating the role of Levi Esperas, also known as Levi Laa, in an auto theft ring that may have stolen as many as 13 cars from Young Brothers Ltd., which operates out of Piers 39 and 40.

Two other suspects who were with Esperas the day he was shot were charged yesterday with being part of the same auto theft ring. Esperas' wife, Bernadette Oili, also known as Bernadette Laa, and Jesse Ani are being held in lieu of $50,000 each for stealing three of the vehicles in the Young Brothers case.

Court documents show that most of the auto thefts occurred between April 4 and 11. Besides the Humvee, other vehicles stolen were a Mercedes-Benz and a Dodge Quad Cab pickup truck headed for Maui and a Mazda Tribute that was headed for the Big Island.

Court documents state that Oili and Ani were involved in the theft of the Mercedes, the Dodge and the Mazda.

Police have not yet released details about the other nine vehicles or who they believe was involved.

Police said Esperas was probably the same one who crashed the Humvee into a Makakilo street pole on Monday, eventually landing on the hood of a Ford Escort parked in the Handi Pantry lot. In the car was Mary Takamure and her 12-year-old daughter.

"I was in such a state of shock," said Takamure. "I was frozen in fear. This massive, massive vehicle was coming right at us."

Takamure said the Humvee "shredded" the hood of the Escort and just missed crashing through the car windshield.

"We would have been flattened. Thank God, because we easily could have died," she said.

Takamure said whoever was driving the Humvee just looked at her and fled across the street. She said the sun was in her eyes and that she could not identify the man to say whether it was Esperas.

Young Brothers Vice President Bruce McEwan said besides the Humvee incident, he did not know how the suspects got around company security to steal the vehicles.

"This is a definitely unique situation," said McEwan.

McEwan said about half of the stolen vehicles have been recovered by police. Police yesterday also released Samuel Hao, another man who was with Ani, Oili and Esperas when officers confronted the group in Waipio Tuesday.

Police said all four were in a stolen van that officers started pursuing on the H-1 freeway near Manager's Drive until the van crashed into a concrete barrier on an H-2 freeway median about a half-mile north of the Ka Uka Boulevard offramp.

Police said officers shot Esperas after he fired at them first with a 12-gauge shotgun, wounding two officers. Esperas later died of gunshot wounds to the lung and liver at Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi.

Since then one officer has been released, while the other remains hospitalized at the Queen's Medical Center in fair condition with wounds to his left hand.