Man killed by police suspected in prior shooting

Police say a 51-year-old convicted car thief shot and killed by police in Pacific Palisades in August may have been the same suspect in an officer-involved shooting at Red Hill in July.

James Pickard Jr. was shot and killed Aug. 6 by two police officers in Pacific Palisades while driving a stolen car on Komo Mai Drive. Authorities said Pickard drove into a police car, then reversed toward two officers while trying to flee.

The Medical Examiner’s Office said Pickard died from gunshots to the head and torso.

Police Chief Louis Kealoha said that two of three officers at the scene fired a total of seven shots. But police would not say how many shots each officer fired.

Pickard and his passenger were parked in front of a residence that neighbors described as "a drug house." His passenger, Evette Hilongo, was not injured and was later charged with car theft.

Pickard was also suspected of trying to run over a police sergeant with a stolen car in the Red Hill area on July 24, police said. In that incident, the officer fired a shot before jumping out of the way.

The stolen Toyota was recovered, but a suspect was not caught.

A sergeant patrolling the Red Hill area had spotted a man leaning into a vehicle and stopped to ask questions at Ala Kapuna Street and Moanalualani Place, near the First Assembly of God church.

Police said a man may have been breaking into vehicles in a nearby neighborhood, and the sergeant was aware of those break-ins. When the sergeant approached, the man jumped into the Toyota and drove toward him, police said.

The sergeant jumped out of the way and fired one shot at the man. The officer injured his hip while moving away from the vehicle.

Pickard had 22 convictions, beginning in 1985 — 10 of them felonies, including eight for car theft, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.