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Attempted murder charges filed in police SUV crash

A Kula man has been charged with crossing the center line and crashing into this police SUV on Wednesday afternoon on Kula Highway near the Lower Kula Road intersection. The officer driving the SUV was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was treated and released. Maui Police Department photo

The Maui News

A Kula man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after the vehicle he was driving collided with a police SUV, injuring an officer, Wednesday afternoon on Kula Highway near the Lower Kula Road intersection, according to police.

Garette Moriwake, 35, also was charged with one count of felony abuse Thursday and was being held on $1,020,000 bail, police said.

At about 1 p.m., Wailuku patrol officers responded to a call of domestic abuse on Calasa Road in the area of the Kula Fire Station, police said. While responding southbound on Kula Highway, officers received information that the alleged male offender had fled the home in a blue truck in an unknown direction.

Responding officers encountered a blue Toyota pickup truck heading in the opposite direction on Kula Highway in the area of Lower Kula Road, also known as Skid Row, police said.

The pickup truck veered across the centerline and collided with the police SUV before climbing an embankment and running into a tractor-trailer truck, which had pulled onto the shoulder of Kula Highway, police said.

The pickup truck driver was identified as Moriwake, who was placed under arrest and taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center for treatment of injuries from the crash. He was charged Thursday, police said.

The officer driving the police SUV was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center and released later Thursday, police said.

Police continue to investigate the case.

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