The 44-year-old felon who was fatally shot by Honolulu police after an islandwide manhunt that left two officers hospitalized with gunshot wounds was free on $75,000 bail after he was charged in November with six gun crimes.
On Monday, attempted murder suspect Sidney Tafokitau, who had 18 prior state convictions, was killed, and two officers — a Crime Reduction Unit officer with five years of experience at HPD, and a patrol officer who joined the department two years ago — needed surgery and “remain hospitalized,” police said Tuesday.
HPD officers recovered an unregistered AR-15 rifle that Tafokitau used to shoot at them.
Tafokitau, also known as “Sydney Tavatitau” and “Pepe,” was charged Nov. 24 in state court by felony information and nonfelony complaint, according to state court records.
Prosecutors announced their intention to seek an extended prison term for him if he was convicted.
Tafokitau, who stood 6 foot 1 and weighed 212 pounds, was banned from owning guns after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2001 for six robberies. In 2002 he also was convicted of felony gun crimes.
In October he was arrested for allegedly driving drunk.
In November, Tafokitau was accused of ownership or possession of a prohibited weapon, ownership or possession prohibited of any firearm by a person convicted of certain crimes, illegal storage of a pistol or revolver, two counts of possession of prohibited detachable ammunition magazine, and illegal storage of ammunition.
He posted $75,000 bail Dec. 1.
Fifteen days later, at about 12:45 a.m. Dec. 16, Tafokitau argued with a group of men on Rose Street in Kalihi before opening fire, hitting one man, according to police. He was also accused of stabbing another man in the shoulder.
On Dec. 21, “multiple no-bail warrants” were issued for his arrest, and police put out a public plea for help finding him.
Officers recovering
Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who visited the two wounded officers and their families Tuesday at The Queen’s Medical Center, said the officers are expected to recover.
“Today our thoughts and prayers go out to the two heroic officers of the Honolulu Police Department who were severely injured in the line of duty while pursuing a dangerous and immediate threat. I am relieved to share that both officers have undergone successful surgeries and are expected to recover,” he said.
A man who was struck by a police vehicle during the manhunt was treated at the hospital, but police did not release any information about him or his injuries.
“His possible connection to the case is still being determined,” said Michelle Yu, an HPD spokesperson, in a statement. “The suspect’s firearm has been recovered. It is an unregistered AR-15 type rifle. The attempted murder and robbery investigations are ongoing.”
HPD will release more information as it becomes available, Yu said.
“The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney investigates all use of deadly force by police officers. As in other matters, we do not discuss the status of ongoing investigations,” said Brooks Baher, a department spokesperson.
Tafokitau was shot near University Avenue and Dole Street after 4 p.m. and taken to The Queen’s Medical Center where he died.
On University Avenue, Tafokitau allegedly got out of a white Scion he carjacked on the Windward side and opened fire on officers, wounding two of them, before he was killed by police returning fire.
The day’s chase began about eight hours earlier when Tafokitau allegedly shot a 39-year-old woman on Moanalua Freeway. The woman was reportedly his ex-girlfriend and is expected to survive.
He then led officers on a chase that stretched from town to the North Shore and back, sporadically firing at officers in pursuit.
Honolulu Emergency Medical Services paramedics responded after 7 a.m. and treated the woman “with advanced life support who suffered multiple apparent gunshot wounds and continued treatment en route to an emergency room” in serious condition.
Honolulu police dispatch said officers responded at 7:17 a.m. to a report of an “aggravated assault” on the eastbound airport exit from the freeway.
After 2 p.m. Monday, CrimeStoppers asked for the public’s help finding Tafokitau, who was already wanted for first-degree attempted murder and first-degree robbery.
Public notification
In an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Blangiardi said police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan told him at about noon that they were pursuing an armed suspect. Logan continued to text Blangiardi updates until Tafokitau was shot and killed shortly after 4 p.m.
Blangiardi said Tuesday that he had not yet been briefed on the event by Logan.
The mayor defended the police chief’s decision not to alert the public to the pursuit of an armed felon who carjacked a resident during a New Year’s Day-long police chase on county and state roadways.
“I have not been briefed yet by Chief Logan, and as a result I am not going to second-guess or Monday morning quarterback the situation. It is too serious a matter,” Blangiardi said. “That said, I am on the record asking our Police Department to be as transparent as they possibly can, at all times, with the public. In this circumstance, as I understand it, because he was firing at police officers, and they were on him, to apprehend him … they knew where he was.”
Blangiardi said there “wasn’t a convenient place … at any time” to alert the public.
“If they alerted the public, their concern was … it could turn into an open shooting match of some kind. That was their concern. So they were trying to apprehend him. It was a very unusual circumstance,” said the mayor.
Blangiardi noted that unlike the high-speed chases on freeways televised in mainland cities, Honolulu has been relatively immune to those moments.
“But this was its own version of that,” Blangiardi said.
Honolulu Police Commission Chair Doug Chin, a former deputy prosecuting attorney and the state attorney general from 2015 to 2018, told the Star- Advertiser that HPD officers injured in the line of duty “remind us all of the risk and sacrifice they endure to serve the community. The commission’s thoughts go out to them and their families.”
“As to the release of information that day, we don’t have enough details now but fully expect the Chief and Department to conduct a thorough review and report back to us at a future commissioners’ meeting,” Chin said in a statement.
The next Police Commission meeting is scheduled for Jan. 17.
