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The Maui News
Police arrested a 24-year-old homeless man when he ran from a stolen car Saturday afternoon in the parking lot between the Maui Beach Hotel and Maui Seaside Hotel in Kahului, said Lt. Derrick Lopez, head of the Property Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Division.
The 1990 white Honda Accord was reported stolen Saturday morning from the parking lot of Harbor Lights Condominium in Kahului, he said.
While making checks, Wailuku patrol officers located the stolen vehicle parking on Kaulana Na Pua Circle in Waihee, Lopez said. An officer tried to make contact with the driver, later identified as Kamuela Auhoon, and was able to take a photo of him before the car sped away in the residential area where children were playing on the sidewalk.
As police followed, the car went through a stop sign onto Kahekili Highway and overtook a vehicle in the Na Wai Eha Place subdivision.
After officers quit attempting to stop the vehicle, police responded to a report at 5:47 p.m. that the stolen car was in the parking lot between the Maui Beach and Maui Seaside hotels and saw Auhoon in the driver's seat, Lopez said. Auhoon got out of the car and ran toward the beach before he was caught and arrested, he said.
Police reported recovering crystal methamphetamine and marijuana.
Auhoon was charged with unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, first-degree resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, reckless driving, driving without a license, obedience to traffic control devices, fourth-degree theft, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.
He was being held in lieu of $26,000 bail at the Maui Community Correctional Center.
"Excellent work by the officers who were able to apprehend the fleeing suspect while still maintaining public safety," Lopez said.