Officer says driver hit her as he fled in stolen truck

Man is charged with assault on a law enforcement officer

WAILUKU -- A police officer testified she repeatedly told a man to stop before he reversed a stolen pickup truck that hit her as it fled the area near Paia Elementary School.

"It accelerated, reversed all the way onto Baldwin Avenue," officer Corrine Chang said.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Wailuku District Court, she and officer Devin Schoeppner identified the driver as Eric Vega Jr., 35, who gave no local address.

He was arrested a couple of days after the encounter with the officers, who responded shortly after 6 a.m. Oct. 4 to investigate a report of a stolen white 2020 Ford Ranger truck blocking the exit lane of the school.

Schoeppner, who arrived on scene at 6:03 a.m., said the truck engine was running and Vega was asleep in the driver's seat. The officer reached through the window to unlock the door, which he opened. When Schoeppner grabbed Vega's left wrist, "he woke up and screamed that his wrist was broken," Schoeppner said.

He said Vega leaned forward and the truck reversed as the officer tried to grab Vega's left elbow. Schoeppner said he spun to get out of the way.

Officer Chang, who arrived a minute after Schoeppner, said she went to the passenger side of the truck, drew her Taser and opened the passenger-side door. She said she continued to tell Vega to stop resisting when the truck began reversing while she was inside the door area. She was walking backward when the door hit her arm and chest area, she said.

The Water Control Inc. truck was reported stolen after it was last seen the afternoon of Oct. 1 while parked near a pump station at Kahului Airport, said company electromagnetic field technician Ryan Stone. He testified that the truck was gone at 3 p.m. when he went to get tools from the vehicle valued at $35,000.

Judge Blaine Kobayashi ruled there was probable cause to support a charge of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer.

Kobayashi found there was insufficient evidence to support charges of first-degree theft and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, saying there was no testimony to establish the owner of the vehicle or its year.

Bail was reduced from $16,000 to $6,000 for Vega, who is also charged with resisting arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 17 in 2nd Circuit Court.

After being arrested in the case Oct. 6, Vega was released on his own recognizance Oct. 12 when a witness wasn't available for a scheduled preliminary hearing. After a bench warrant was issued when he didn't show up for the hearing Oct. 19, Vega was arrested Oct. 29.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.