An Oahu grand jury Tuesday indicted former New York Yankee Bronson Sardinha on a charge of assaulting a police officer.

The charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins set bail at $11,000.

Honolulu police said Sardinha, 32, headbutted a police officer Nov. 29 as the officer was arresting him outside Nancy’s Kitchen at the Waipio Shopping Center. Police were there to investigate a report of an argument between a man and a woman.

There was a $500 bench warrant for Sardinha’s arrest at the time for failing to appear in Honolulu District Court in a petty misdemeanor harassment case.

Sardinha pleaded no contest to the harassment charge Tuesday and was granted a deferral of his plea. If he stays out of trouble for six months the charge will be dismissed. He must also perform 29 hours of community service.

In 2001, the New York Yankees drafted the Kamehameha Schools graduate in the first round. They called him up to the majors briefly in 2007.

Fatal shooting spurs arrest of Kapoho man

A 72-year-old Kapoho man is in custody in connection with a fatal shooting Monday of a man in Puna, Hawaii County police said Tuesday.

The victim has not been identified. An autopsy will be ordered to determine cause of death.

Police said the shooting was reported at 5:14 p.m. Monday in the Kapoho Beach Lots subdivision.

The suspect was arrested at the scene on suspicion of second-degree murder. He is being held at the Hilo police cellblock.

Police ask anyone with information about this case to call the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or contact Detective Dean Uyetake at 961-2379 or dean.uyetake@hawaiicounty.gov.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.

Robber steals SUV after victim stops to help

Hawaii island police are searching for a suspect who posed as a stranded motorist and used a gun to rob a victim of his sport utility vehicle.

The incident occurred Tuesday morning in Puna, said police, who responded to a call at 1:44 a.m. on Captain’s Drive in Fern Forest.

A 55-year-old male victim, who was not injured, said he had stopped to assist a stranded motorist and was robbed of his SUV at gunpoint. The case is classified as a first-degree robbery.

The vehicle is described as a white 1996 GMC Jimmy, license plate GPE 575.