A man accused of ramming a police vehicle with a stolen sport utility vehicle and injuring two police officers in Waikele last week was involved in a similar incident five years ago.

Jeremiah I. Lopez, III, 23, is facing first- and second-degree assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, terroristic threatening, criminal property damage and drug charges stemming from a Nov. 3 incident in the drive-through area of a KFC restaurant.

Police shot Lopez twice in the chest and once in his right arm. He remained in a hospital for treatment until last Friday. The two injured officers were treated and released. On April 20, 2004, a police officer saw Lopez driving a stolen motorcycle on Kamehameha Highway in Kalihi.

The officer said he turned on his strobe lights and siren as the motorcycle headed onto the H-1 freeway on-ramp. Lopez appeared as though he was going to stop on the left shoulder of the on-ramp, but then accelerated, the officer said.

Police said the officer later caught up to Lopez and stopped in front of him on the right shoulder of the roadway. Lopez tried to drive the motorcycle around the right side of the police vehicle, striking it in the rear, police said. The officer was not injured.

Lopez then dropped the motorcycle and ran away. Police caught him nearby.

The motorcycle's ignition was punched, a screwdriver stuck in it, police said.

Lopez pleaded no contest in February 2005 to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, fleeing the scene of an accident, resisting an order to stop, driving without a license and failing to wear protective eyewear. He also asked Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto for a deferral of his no-contest pleas.

Sakamoto agreed to a five-year deferral period, which would have ended in May.

However, Lopez asked in April last year to end the deferral period early, and Sakamoto agreed, dismissing the charges.