Driver of stolen car takes police on miles-long chase

Police arrested a 38-year-old Papakolea man and a 28-year-old woman with no local address Monday after a vehicle chase through Kalihi, Aiea and Honolulu.

The man was driving a stolen vehicle at about 2:45 p.m. Monday, police said, when a patrol officer noticed the vehicle lacked a front license plate. The officer turned on his emergency lights to stop the vehicle, but the man sped off, police said.

Police chased the man to Kalihi and Aiea and finally ended up on Prospect Place in the Punchbowl area where the officer stopped him. Police arrested the man on suspicion of unauthorized control of a vehicle.

He has eight convictions, including several felonies: a vehicle break-in in 2002, violating parole, second-degree theft and first-degree robbery.

The woman, Tiana Kathleen Paia, was arrested and charged with suspicion of unauthorized entry into a vehicle. Her bail was set at $2,000.

2 men charged in shooting of another in a parked car

Prosecutors charged two Waianae men in connection with a shooting at the occupant of a parked vehicle in Waipahu last month.

Rogelio S. Gasmen, 56, was charged Sunday with second-degree attempted murder and weapons charges. His bail was set at $100,000.

Russell Tolentino, 50, was charged with unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, and is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.

In an affidavit, police said the victim, 43, had been sleeping in his vehicle when Gasmen and Tolentino drove up in a pickup truck around 1:20 a.m. May 19. Gasmen confronted the victim, an acquaintance, and demanded to know where a third man was, the affidavit said.

When he said he did not know, Gasmen got out of the truck and approached him. The victim tried to roll up his window, but it wouldn't go all the way up, leaving a 1- to 2-inch gap, according to the affidavit.

The suspects yelled at him to get out, and Tolentino allegedly reached in with both hands and tried to push the window down, the affidavit said. The victim believed he was trying to break the window to get in.

Gasmen pointed a silver-barreled handgun at the victim and threatened to shoot him in the head, the affidavit said, and then fired at the victim but missed, shattering the window.

Police arrested Gasmen on Friday.

Blaze scorches 6 acres in back of Waianae Valley

A wildfire in Waianae burned six acres of brush land yesterday morning, according to fire Capt. Terry Seelig.

The fire started at 7:40 a.m. in the back of Waianae Valley near Haleahi Road.

Seelig said firefighters contained the flames by 10:40 a.m. but had difficulty accessing the area, which was on the slope of a ridge. The wildfire was put out by 2 p.m.

No one was injured, and the cause of the fire is undetermined.

Mililani woman is arrested in death of 7-week-old baby

Police arrested a 26-year-old Mililani woman yesterday afternoon for the alleged murder of a 7-week-old male baby in the Mililani area.

The baby boy's aunt found him unresponsive at 1:44 p.m. May 9, and he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died at 4:16 a.m. May 10.

The Medical Examiner's Office identified the baby as Maika Lawelawe-Westbrook.

The Medical Examiner's Office said the boy died from abusive head trauma, and concluded it was homicide.

Police arrested the woman at 4:40 p.m. yesterday for investigation of second-degree murder.

Police spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii said he did not know the relationship between the woman and the baby. The case is pending further investigation.