The 47-year-old man accused of shooting a Honolulu police officer in Waianae last week had been released on parole four times after he was found guilty and sentenced in 1990 to a life prison term for attempted murder, according to state court records.
Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said Tony D.V. Souza shot an officer who had gone to a home near Pokai Bay on July 29 on a tip in a credit card fraud case. She said the officer, a six-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department, survived gunshots wounds to his hand and chest from a single bullet.
Another officer shot Souza in response. Ballard said the other officer hit Souza in the hand and leg with a single gunshot.
The injured officer and Souza went to the hospital by ambulance, the officer in critical condition, Souza in serious condition.
Police arrested Souza for the attempted murder of a police officer, a crime punishable by a life prison term with no opportunity for release on parole, but released him two days later to the state Department of Public Safety, which had a no-bail, parole retake warrant for his arrest. According to DPS records, Souza is in custody at Halawa Correctional Facility.
A state jury found Souza guilty of attempted murder in April 1990.
According to trial testimony, Souza stabbed his friend in the neck without warning after smoking crystal methamphetamine. Souza then threw the friend to the ground and repeatedly stabbed him. The friend managed to kick the knife out of Souza’s hand and flee. Souza went after the friend in a stolen car and grazed him in the leg as the friend jumped into bushes on the side of the road.
A state judge sentenced Souza in June 1990 to life in prison with possible release on parole.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority granted Souza parole in November 1998, December 2002 and September 2013. DPS spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said Souza was taken back into custody each time on parole violation warrants for failing to comply with recommended programming. His latest release on parole was in October 2016.
After his 1998 release Souza pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail for misdemeanor domestic abuse. After his 2002 release he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest and was handed a suspended six-month jail term.
