Woman allegedly tries to ram officers with car
A 26-year-old woman is behind bars after she allegedly tried to run over two police officers Friday night in Kapahulu.
The suspect, Leinette K. Reyes, of no local address, was found and arrested a short time later about 11⁄2 mile away near Punahou School.
She was charged yesterday with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, unauthorized control of a vehicle and violating the terms of her probation. She was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.
Reyes sustained undisclosed, minor injuries. The officers were not injured.
Police said that at about 8:30 p.m. Friday, members of the Waikiki patrol district’s Crime Reduction Unit were staking out an apartment frequented by a woman suspected in an auto theft that occurred Wednesday in Makiki.
When the suspect arrived in a vehicle, several officers approached on foot, police said. The woman reversed the vehicle with the officers in pursuit. She then drove forward toward two of the officers, police said.
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Both officers fired two rounds each at the suspect, but she managed to flee, police said.
Police booking records show the suspect was arrested on the grounds of a Clement Street apartment complex about 8:40 p.m.
The shooting incident shook up residents of the clustered Date Street-Laau Street apartment district, and police shut down Laau Street for several hours as they investigated the scene.
Brandon Amituanai, 29, said he had stepped outside his unit onto the sidewalk to make a telephone call when he saw a red Volkswagen Beetle speeding in reverse.
"A group of people was yelling, ‘Stop that car! Stop that car!’" as the Beetle sped past him, he said.
When he stepped onto the roadway, the car shifted back into forward gear and he had to dash to the side to avoid being hit, Amituanai said.
Another witness, who asked not to be identified, said two more shots were fired at the Beetle farther down Laau Street.
Several witnesses said they saw a number of vehicles chase after the Beetle as it left the neighborhood.