A man considered by police to be the most-wanted auto thief on Oahu has been arrested, thanks to a tenacious Pearl City officer. Police officer praised
for catching isle’s
most-wanted auto thiefBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comThe officer, whose name was not released, caught Roger Larson while Larson was stripping the stereo from a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of the Pacific Palisades Fastop, 2321 Auhuhu St., at 10 a.m. Sunday, police said.
Larson was charged with two counts of operating a stolen vehicle as well as drug offenses. He is being held in lieu of $91,000 bail.
"The officer did a great job ... an excellent job ... and was tenacious in his desire to capture Larson," said Career Criminal Detective Bruce Swann.
"He chased Larson until Larson got out of breath and couldn't run anymore. And this is a guy who really, really did not want to get caught."
Swann said the officer recognized Larson -- one of the highly publicized criminals being sought by police -- during a routine check of the Pacific Palisades area. Swann said the officer pulled his patrol car next to the car Larson was in, and the men made eye contact.
Larson allegedly rammed the passenger side of the patrol car with the stolen car and then fled on foot.
Swann said the officer chased Larson across the street through Pacific Palisades Elementary School and back out into the street until Larson started to slow down.
"Even then it was a struggle to arrest him," said Swann. "He didn't want to give up."
In the meantime, the car Larson allegedly stole had rolled down a small hill into a ditch. Swann said the owner did not know his car had been stolen -- much less damaged -- until police contacted him.
Swann categorized Larson as one of Oahu's most active auto thieves, who allegedly supplied other thieves with stolen cars in exchange for crystal methamphetamine ("ice") or money, and that Larson's customers in turn would commit other crimes such as burglaries and forgeries.
Police are hoping that the arrest of Larson and others like him will leave criminals who rely on stolen cars without the means to commit more crimes.
"It's not the number of people we arrest, it's arresting the right people," Swann said. "We're not interested in the guy who takes his mom's car without permission. ... We're interested in the guys who are really victimizing the public."
Larson also is a suspect in the December burglary of a rental car in which three stuffed teddy bears, a cellular phone, a digital camera and other valuables were taken, police said.
Distraught that the bears belonging to his 5-year-old niece were stolen, Regan Areola, the burglary victim, helped recover the bears after he returned to Georgia.
Areola discovered someone left a voice message for "Roger" on the stolen phone and saw Larson featured on the police CrimeStopper web site, he said. With the help of Johnathan Nesbit, a Honolulu security guard, the bears -- accompanied by a new HPD bear -- were returned to Areola's niece, Isabelle, in time for her recent birthday party.
Honolulu Police Department