comscore Freeway stabbing suspect has previous felony conviction, pending cases | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Top News

Freeway stabbing suspect has previous felony conviction, pending cases

Honolulu Star-Advertiser logo
Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.
Get It Now
  • HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT / MAY 2013

    Mark Char

A 58-year-old Ewa Beach man, who is already facing charges of an earlier road rage incident and barricading himself against police, was again arrested at his home Monday night after he allegedly stabbed three men following a road rage incident on the the H-1 westbound that closed part of the freeway during rush hour.

The suspect was arrested at his Halolani Street home just before 8 p.m. where he had barricaded himself for more than two hours. He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder and taken to the hospital for mental health evaluation.

Police surrounded the Halolani Street home and arrested the suspect after he surrendered to police at 7:54 p.m.

One Halolani Street resident who asked to remain anonymous said an officer told him to stay in his house because the suspect who was inside the Halolani Street house might have had firearms.

The resident said that about three years ago the same neighbor was in another police barricade situation. A police radio communication identified the suspect as Mark Char.

The stabbings occurred on the left shoulder of H-1 at about 3:20 p.m.

Paramedics transported a 22-year-old man to a hospital in critical condition with three stab wounds to the abdomen and other areas. They also took a 23-year-old man to a hospital in serious condition, with a stab wound to his arm.

A witness said he noticed a white sedan and a red Camaro pull up on the left shoulder of the freeway. He saw two men get out of the white car and one man step out of the Camaro. The men from the white car chased after and punched the Camaro’s driver.

Another driver in a BMW had also stopped, the witness said. He said the BMW’s driver had approached the group to help, but returned and said the driver of the red Camaro had stabbed him in the hand and stabbed the other two men.

A Halolani Street resident said Char had a previous run-in with police.

Char was scheduled for two trials, one for a road rage-type incident in June and the other for the barricade situation in May 2013.

He is charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal property damage in the first case and is scheduled for trial the week of Aug. 8.

He was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and weapons charges in the 2013 barricade incident and is scheduled for trial the week of Aug. 29.

A Halolani Street neighbor said police tried to restrain the suspect in the 2013 incident before he ran into the house with a firearm.

The suspect was convicted of first-degree felony negligent injury in 2003 and sentenced to three years probation, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.

Comments (86)

By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines.

Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.

Leave a Reply

  • Why does the freeway need to be shut down for 5 hours to take some pictures?

    And why is a convicted felon not in jail instead of causing all this trouble?

    • To bad he surrendered. Would have been better if he resisted and the cops put a slug between has eyes. Would save space in Halawa for other criminals.

    • the individuals in the white car and the camaro are all guilty of road rage. The individual in the camaro from what is in the article appears to be the victim and if attacked first should be able to defend himself.

      the BMW driver should have stayed in his car and call 911.

      The 3 lane closing seems excessive and could have been handled
      with less impact to the public…

      • I would have to agree with 1local. Although provoked, nobody is obligated to pull over their vehicle and engage. Any fight is potentially a fight for your life. Prior record is interesting but may not be admissible during the trial. This guy is a wacko but the bruddahs should have just given him the finger and kept going to their destination. Look what happens………

        • Yeah,but the Camargo pulled over, got out of his car armed then took off after the assault. Makes me wonder if he had a gun in the car then took it into his homem

        • Camargo?? But yeah interesting point kuli. You have to assume that anybody willing to go 2 on 1 has something up his sleeve or in his pants.

      • 1local, looks like you’re one of the few who actually read the article and stuck to the details. I agree with you. Saveparadise also makes sense. Pulling over to beef is stupid. I agree that the driver of the 3rd car should have called 911 and not gotten involved. However, we weren’t there and don’t know what he was thinking. Maybe he thought Char was being attacked (there was a woman passenger in his car?) and went over to help. Sad. All victims.

        • Headline should have read, “2 Motorist end up being victims of their own Road rage, after being shanked by Ewa Beach LoLo”.

    • I have been noticed a lot of angry drivers speeding on H-2, H-1 and Airport viaduct, who are going at 85 mph or more and weaving in and out of traffic. There seems to be a lot of angry neurotic and psychotic people on the freeways and roadways these days. They need to get ahead of everyone, without realizing they are putting others in jeopardy of their lives and injury. This road rage incident is just a symptom of the very sorry state of peoples’ attitude and minds.

  • This is the same thing we run into all the time. A felon is out on the street recommitting felonies. Maybe this time two second-degree attempted murder charges might stick. Stop releasing dangerous felons to recommit crimes. Hawaii’s lenient, poorly educated judges are putting lives in danger.

  • Walmart, Long’s, Walgreen, City Mill, and Home Depot should all sell police grade Pepper Spray. Too expensive at the gun stores and Amazon.com won’t ship to Hawaii. I like buy the spray can kine.

  • I swear our over paid politicians do not believe in personal responsibility and accountability. We should have a law that allows those who burned gas on the freeway to recoup their expenses from this individual.

  • This is prime example of why we need knife control laws. Register all knives and apply for permit to own or carry them. Felons not allowed. Go after the innocent to cover the occasional perp.

  • As bad as this squirt’s history is, if the witness is correct, it looks like this could be a legitimate case of self defense. If I had to guess though, both parties share some blame. One witness doesn’t tell the entire story.

    • Yes the article reports “He (a witness) saw two men get out of the white car and one man step out of the Camaro. The men from the white car chased after and punched the Camaro’s driver.”

  • The two men from the white car should be charged with assault and contributing to the road rage. By getting out of their car they helped to create this situation.
    Unfortunately they got stabbed. Perhaps the have learned something from their stupid behavior. Both parties are dangerous and should be held accountable .

  • Hmm. If the witness is correct, two young men, 22 and 23, chasing after a older man 58. Seems self defense was justified in this case. The two punks just picked on the wrong guy, thinking the senior was an easy punching bag.

  • Another example of way Judges should be VOTED into office rather than being placed there by their friends. Do a lousy job, you’ll be voted out of office the next time.

  • I’ve read through most of the comments and did people read what I read? “A witness said he noticed a white sedan and a red Camaro pull up on the left shoulder of the freeway. He saw two men get out of the white car and one man step out of the Camaro. The men from the white car chased after and punched the Camaro’s driver.” Most of the people are crucifying the 58 yr old guy because of his past record which the media dug up. It would be interesting to see if the two 20+ year olds have past records that the media hasn’t yet dug up.

    • Don’t get my previous comment wrong, I’m okay with the cops putting a slug between the eyes of the two guys in the white car as well. To me they are equally to blame since they also pulled over to engage with the guy in the camaro.

    • You go girl! That is absolutely correct. I mean we are not saying he is Charles Bronson the Vigilante but who are the two that were beating on the 58 year old guy and why?

    • The reason is most people initially judge with their emotions and a lot of them are lazy. Don’t read or comprehend the whole article. Just look at the picture and jump to conclusions. Still I bet there’s a whole lot more to this story than what’s being initially reported, there usually is. Good chance both parties share some blame though.

    • Try reading again. People are not crucifying the 58 yr. old because of his priors, they’re crucifying him because he stabbed three people. One of which was just trying to intervene. No one is absolving the two youngsters, especially if the eyewitness is correct and they instigated the whole thing.

    • Bullies only understand 1 thing … a good butt kicking … problem is a guy like this needs weapons to prove himself. Couldn’t handle himself in a “fair fight”

    • Maybe in the past but did you read the part where TWO younger men were chasing and punching him? Or did you just look at the picture and read the first paragraph before commenting?

  • My fear and concern, at this moment in time, are for his wife and any other family members in his household! The neighbors dislike his bad conducts, an indication he is difficult to live with. An abnormal person with questionable behavior in public are the devil incarnate to his immediate family! Pray his wife and family have the courage and help to escape this tyrannical man and his prison!

    • I can’t say definitively in this case but it is a very common defense strategy to ask for continuances. Generally, the longer it takes to go to trial, the better the chance for acquittal. (Though sometimes they are also granted when the prosecutor is not prepared to proceed or witnesses are unavailable.)

Click here to see our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your coronavirus news tip.

Be the first to know
Get web push notifications from Star-Advertiser when the next breaking story happens — it's FREE! You just need a supported web browser.
Subscribe for this feature

Scroll Up