Man due in court in attack on officer

A 43-year-old convicted thief and his alleged accomplice were in the midst of cutting up a gold ring they planned to sell at a Pearl City pawnshop when a Honolulu police lieutenant intervened, leading to the accidental discharge of the officer’s handgun on Aug. 12, according to court documents.

Derek Torres is charged with knocking down police Lt. Stacey Kapeliela in a stolen car fronting a Pearl City 7-Eleven on Kamehameha Highway. When Kapeliela fell, his handgun accidentally went off. The incident touched off a manhunt and a lockdown of a Kaaawa school.

Torres was charged Saturday with first-degree terroristic threatening, attempted assault and assault of a law enforcement officer. He is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail. His preliminary hearing will be held in Honolulu District Court on Thursday.

Torres was arrested at Pearlridge Center on Saturday after calling police. He was initially arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder, police said.

Detectives in the case have questioned a 40-year-old alleged accomplice who said a person he knows only as "Derek" picked him up in an Infiniti sedan and drove him to the 7-Eleven to meet a third person in order to pawn gold.

The alleged accomplice said Torres and the other man "were cutting up a ring in the vehicle and on the sidewalk in front of the 7-Eleven."

Kapeliela, dressed in uniform and driving an unmarked police car, drove up and parked, the police statement said.

Kapeliela told a police detective that he observed "two suspicious males" walking to and from a 2002 light green Infiniti sedan, checked on the vehicle and found out that it had been stolen on Aug. 3.

The police lieutenant said he approached the Infiniti on the driver’s side, opened the door, unholstered his firearm and instructed the driver to get out. The suspect shifted the Infiniti into reverse and accelerated, according to the police affidavit.

The open door struck Kapeliela’s upper body, and he fell. He was dragged as the Infiniti continued onto Kamehameha Highway, ultimately speeding away. The officer suffered cuts to his right hand, a contusion to the right side of his head, and abrasions to his knee, elbow, shoulder and back.

The stolen Infiniti was found a block away in a parking lot six hours later.

Torres has a criminal record dating back to 1993. His 15 convictions include four felony offenses for repeated drug use and theft. Torres also is a suspect in an incident in March when his black Sebring convertible hit another vehicle in the parking lot of a Home Depot while he was fleeing from a police officer.

No charges have been filed against Torres’ passenger.