GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Visitors walked on a Kihei beach yesterday near the site where a man was shot Sunday by a Maui police officer. In the background were police tape marking the area.
Maui victim accused
of indecent exposureWitnesses say that the man
who was shot by police had
exposed himself to children
KIHEI, Maui >> A Maui police officer who fatally shot a man at a Kihei beach had been called to the area because of a report of a man indecently exposing himself to children, a Waiehu resident said.
Residents said the man had sprayed a chemical agent at the police officer, and the uniformed officer had repeatedly ordered the man to lie down, before firing his weapon about 6:30 p.m. Sunday on the beach about 100 yards south of Lipoa Street.
The man, 48-year-old Charles Benson Ogden, formerly of Oklahoma, was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The police officer was treated and released from the medical center.
Police want to confirm the identity of the man through fingerprint matching and notify his family before releasing his identity.
It was the second fatal shooting involving a Maui police officer in a little over a month. Two officers shot and killed 27-year-old Lisa K. Tomita Kaina, who was driving a stolen car in Paia, on Jan. 23.
Police acting Lt. Jamie Becraft said yesterday that detectives were still conducting the investigation. He would not comment on why officers were chasing the man.
A Waiehu resident who called himself Joe and declined to give his last name said he was walking on the beach near a stream outlet when he saw the man sitting on the sand.
"Then I heard a siren and he took off," Joe said.
Joe, who was planning to do some fishing, said the man, carrying a heavy backpack, ran south with police chasing him.
Joe said he was talking with some women who were also near the beach, and one of them said she felt bad because she called the police on the man.
The woman said the man was an exhibitionist and had been exposing himself to children, according to Joe.
Joe said the man was not running fast because he had such a large backpack.
A woman who lives in a nearby condominium said the police officer had been "maced" by the man.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said the officer warned the man repeatedly not to move and to lie down.
"He told the guy, 'Stay down, stay down,' but he just wouldn't," she said.
The woman said the officer was screaming in agony as a result of the chemical sprayed into his eyes.
"It was so scary," she said. "He was in so much pain. I don't think I've ever heard a man sound like that."
