Officer accused of threats

The policeman got angry over
a damaged tire on his car,
an auto shop proprietor says

A Honolulu police officer is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Division for allegedly threatening several times to kill an auto shop owner because of a dispute over a tire this week.

A Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman said the officer is under criminal and administrative investigation because of the allegation. He had to turn in his gun and badge and is on desk duty.

According to sources, when the alleged incident occurred, the officer was already on desk duty while Internal Affairs investigated an earlier complaint about domestic violence.

The latest alleged incident stems from a Monday confrontation at Larry's Discount Wheel and Tire at 94-867 Farrington Highway.

Owner Larry Woodward said the man -- who Woodward did not know was a police officer at the time -- had come to his shop complaining about damage to a 20-inch tire he had bought for his Camaro a couple of months ago.

"He pointed to a bubble on the tire and said, 'What are you going to do about this?'" Woodward said. "I said, 'Nothing, this is from a pothole.'"

Woodward said the man got irate and pushed him with "both hands and his belly."

Woodward said the man followed him inside his shop, and Woodward asked him to leave. Instead, the man responded, "I'm a policeman, I can do anything I want," according to Woodward.

"I asked for him to show me a badge, and he said, 'I'll show you a badge,' and he grabbed his genitals and said, 'This is all I need for identification,'" Woodward said.

Woodward said the man finally drove off when Woodward said he was going to call the police. When officers arrived, Woodward gave them the man's license plate number and said police confirmed that he was a police officer.

"They were dumbfounded," Woodward said. "So was I. ... Who would give this guy a badge?"

After filing a police report, Woodward said he received a phone call from a man he recognized as the irate police officer. He said the officer told him: "You're a dead man. I'm going to kill you."

Woodward called police again and filled out another police report. He said the officer called two more times after that and threatened his life at least once.

"The second time, he said, 'I guess you don't understand, I'm going to kill you,'" Woodward said. "The third time he called, the cops were still here but he was mumbling. I couldn't understand him."

The officer was identified only as having been assigned to District 8 (Ewa Beach-Waianae) and joined the department in December 2001.