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Suspect in Honolulu police car theft appears in court to face numerous charges

Rosemarie Bernardo
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DENNIS ODA / doda@staradvertiser.com

Jaya Keahonui Titcomb appears in District Court in Honolulu, with public defender Kona Kaaihue (far right), to face multiple charges after he allegedly stole a police subsidized vehicle in Kaimuki and led officers on a chase across Oahu on Monday. Police arrested him in Waiahole Tuesday morning.

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HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT

Jaya K. Titcomb, 38

Prosecutors have charged a 38-year-old man after he allegedly stole a police subsidized vehicle and led officers on a chase across Oahu.

Jaya K. Titcomb made his initial court appearance before Judge Lono Lee at District Court in Honolulu today after he was charged Wednesday with assault of a law enforcement officer in the first-degree, auto theft, terroristic threatening in the first-degree and resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in the first-degree.

Titcomb, wearing an arm sling due to gunshot injuries to his left shoulder, did not speak during his court appearance. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

On Monday morning, police responded to a report of a suspicious man near 10th Avenue in Kaimuki. Officers detained the man, later identified as Titcomb, but allowed him to use the bathroom. He instead jumped into a police dark blue Toyota 4Runner ,which may have been left with the engine running.

Titcomb allegedly accelerated toward an officer and struck him, causing shoulder and knee injuries. When he accelerated toward the officer, police said the officer fired a single round at Titcomb as he continued to flee.

Titcomb led police on a chase through Aiea and the North Shore before he ditched the vehicle in Waiahole and fled on foot, according to police, who launched a manhunt and scoured the valley.

The next morning, police arrested him near a bridge on Waiahole Valley Road after a resident saw him. Emergency Medical Services treated and transported him to a hospital in serious condition for gunshot injuries to his left shoulder.

Titcomb has a criminal record of one felony conviction of promotion of a dangerous drug and two petty misdemeanor convictions of theft and driving under the influence of an intoxicant.

Correction: Jaya Titcomb allegedly struck an officer with Toyota 4Runner in Kaimuki. An earlier version incorrectly said Titcomb struck the officer near Foodland Beretania in Makiki.
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