Man fatally shot on Maui
was wanted in California
WAILUKU >> The 48-year-old man who was fatally shot after attacking a Maui resident and a Maui police officer with pepper spray bear repellent had assaulted a California man with a similar device last fall, authorities said yesterday.
Charles Benson Ogden, formerly of Oklahoma, had an arrest warrant issued for him on Oct. 24 in California Superior Court for alleged felonies, including the improper use of tear gas, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threat.
Ogden, who left California and apparently moved to the Valley Isle, was shot four times Feb. 29 at a Kihei beach in South Maui after repeatedly ignoring warnings to lie down and stop spraying a resident and a Maui police officer with pepper spray, according to police and witnesses.
The officer who shot Ogden had responded to a call about 6 p.m. of a man exposing himself to children at a beach access near Waiohuli Stream, police said.
The officer, assisted by a male resident, pursued Ogden, who attacked the officer with pepper spray, police said.
According to one witness, Ogden tried to reach for his backpack but was warned to stay away from it by the officer.
A pair of scissors and a fish knife with a 6-inch blade were later found in Ogden's backpack.
Stephen Bylin, supervising ranger for Topanga State Park in California, said yesterday he could understand how the Maui police officer was forced to shoot Ogden.
"It sounds very justifiable. His behavior was aggressive," Bylin said. "I think if I was in the same position, I would have done the same thing."
Bylin said the Maui officer who was blinded by the spray might have had his weapon taken away by Ogden.
He noted that a park ranger on the Big Island was fatally shot with his own weapon during a struggle with a homeless man. That incident took place at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park in Kona in 1999.
Bylin said that last fall, a resident living temporarily within the Topanga park saw Ogden bathing naked in a stream and told him to stop because there were women and children nearby.
"His response was very angry," Bylin said.
Bylin said Ogden shot pepper spray at the resident. The resident later returned with a camera to document Ogden's nudity, and Ogden again attacked him with pepper spray and threatened him, Bylin said.
Bylin said the resident picked up a rock to defend himself before Ogden backed away.
Topanga park rangers tried to arrest Ogden at his camping site, but he eluded three rangers by running through a forest and residential area, Bylin said.
Bylin said Ogden later went to the home of the resident and tried to attack him with a wooden stake and a bag of rocks, but the resident was able to fend off the attack with a piece of wood. Ogden broke off the attack but threatened to come back and burn down the resident's house, Bylin said.