Maui police officer
is charged with sexual
extortion of motorist

The patrolman allegedly
demanded favors from a woman

WAILUKU >> A Maui police officer was arrested yesterday for allegedly demanding sex from a female motorist after making a traffic stop.

Aaron Won, 25, a patrolman, has been charged with first-degree attempted sexual assault, second-degree attempted sexual assault, kidnapping and second-degree attempted extortion, Maui police said.

Police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said Won was being held on $100,000 bail.

Maui police officials were scheduled to discuss details of the investigation today at a news conference at the police chief's conference room.

Cuomo said Won has not been on duty since the investigation began July 28. He said Won, originally from Oahu, has been on the police force for a couple of years.

A Maui grand jury indicted Won on Friday, and he was arrested and booked at the Wailuku Police Station yesterday.

Cuomo said Won stopped the woman's vehicle along Lower Honoapiilani Highway in Kahana in West Maui on July 28.

The woman, a 27-year-old Lahaina resident, said after the traffic stop, Won took her to the police substation in Napili and "demanded sexual favors from her using the threat of arrest," Cuomo said.

"The victim reported that she refused to comply with officer Won's demands. The victim was subsequently arrested by Won for several traffic offenses," Cuomo said.

The woman said there was no sexual contact between them, according to Cuomo.

He said at the time of the alleged attempted sexual assault, Won was on duty in uniform and was operating a marked Maui Police Department vehicle.

Cuomo said he could not remember any recent felony charges being brought against a Maui police officer related to attempted sexual assault, but did recall a Maui police officer being convicted of a sexual assault in Wailea in the mid-1980s.