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Freeway stabbing suspect has previous felony conviction, pending cases

HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT / MAY 2013

Mark Char

A 58-year-old Ewa Beach man, who is already facing charges of an earlier road rage incident and barricading himself against police, was again arrested at his home Monday night after he allegedly stabbed three men following a road rage incident on the the H-1 westbound that closed part of the freeway during rush hour.

The suspect was arrested at his Halolani Street home just before 8 p.m. where he had barricaded himself for more than two hours. He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder and taken to the hospital for mental health evaluation.

Police surrounded the Halolani Street home and arrested the suspect after he surrendered to police at 7:54 p.m.

One Halolani Street resident who asked to remain anonymous said an officer told him to stay in his house because the suspect who was inside the Halolani Street house might have had firearms.

The resident said that about three years ago the same neighbor was in another police barricade situation. A police radio communication identified the suspect as Mark Char.

The stabbings occurred on the left shoulder of H-1 at about 3:20 p.m.

Paramedics transported a 22-year-old man to a hospital in critical condition with three stab wounds to the abdomen and other areas. They also took a 23-year-old man to a hospital in serious condition, with a stab wound to his arm.

A witness said he noticed a white sedan and a red Camaro pull up on the left shoulder of the freeway. He saw two men get out of the white car and one man step out of the Camaro. The men from the white car chased after and punched the Camaro’s driver.

Another driver in a BMW had also stopped, the witness said. He said the BMW’s driver had approached the group to help, but returned and said the driver of the red Camaro had stabbed him in the hand and stabbed the other two men.

A Halolani Street resident said Char had a previous run-in with police.

Char was scheduled for two trials, one for a road rage-type incident in June and the other for the barricade situation in May 2013.

He is charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal property damage in the first case and is scheduled for trial the week of Aug. 8.

He was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and weapons charges in the 2013 barricade incident and is scheduled for trial the week of Aug. 29.

A Halolani Street neighbor said police tried to restrain the suspect in the 2013 incident before he ran into the house with a firearm.

The suspect was convicted of first-degree felony negligent injury in 2003 and sentenced to three years probation, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.

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