A suspect surrendered to police surrounding an Ewa Beach house Monday night after an apparent road rage incident left three men with stab wounds — and one of them with critical injuries — and closed part of the H-1 freeway during rush hour.
Police closed Halolani Street, where the suspect apparently resides, for about 2-1/2 hours until the man surrendered at about 8 p.m., residents said.
At about 8:15 p.m. police reopened two Waianae-bound H-1 lanes that had been closed for about five hours while police investigated the stabbing near the Kunia Road offramp.
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.
“I don’t like living like this,” he said. “Nobody likes him on this street.”
The stabbing occurred on the left shoulder of H-1 at about 3:20 p.m.
Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the city Emergency Services Department, said paramedics responded to the stabbing and treated two men.
Paramedics transported a 22-year-old man to a hospital in critical condition with three stab wounds to the abdomen and other areas. Also, they took a 23-year-old man to a hospital in serious condition with a stab wound to his arm.
A witness who gave only his first name, Charles, said he saw the incident unfold while driving on H-1. He noticed a white sedan and a red Camaro stop on the left shoulder of the freeway and 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.
Charles said he pulled over to help and that another driver in a BMW also stopped.
He said the BMW’s driver approached the group to help but returned and told Charles the driver of the red Camaro had stabbed him in the hand and stabbed the other two men. He said the BMW driver drove himself to the hospital.
Charles jumped into his vehicle and tried to pursue the Camaro, but the driver sped away with a female passenger.
Charles said he recognized the driver from another incident last week.
He said that in that incident the driver was driving the same Camaro at about 30 mph Waianae-bound on H-1 during rush hour traffic, and drivers behind were honking. He said the Camaro was near the Moanalua Freeway merge when Charles drove up alongside the car to get a look at the driver.
He said it was the same man in the incident Monday.
The police investigation caused major disruption to traffic. Drive time from Pali Highway to Kunia Road was estimated at more than two hours, and at one point traffic was backed up to the School Street area. Traffic was still bumper to bumper at 9 p.m.
The Halolani Street resident who said the suspect had a previous run-in with police said Monday night that the red Camaro was at the house that police had surrounded. He said the woman in the Camaro was likely the man’s wife.
He said the suspect has told people he is a military veteran. About three years ago a police SWAT team responded after officers were trying to restrain the man, who ran into his home with a firearm. He said police eventually detained the man.
“It’s like nothing happened,” he said. “He’s back to his normal self.”
