A 40-year-old man who was charged with first-degree attempted murder was found guilty today of the lesser charge of first-degree assault in the Feb. 16 attack of a police officer on a Laie street.

Hokuokalani Patoc was indicted Feb. 22 on charges of first-degree attempted murder.

An Oahu Circuit Court jury found him guilty as charged of first-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and second-degree resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle.

Had Patoc been found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, he would have been facing a maximum life term without the possibility of parole.

He faced a first-degree attempted murder charge because he was accused of intentionally or knowingly attempting to kill a law enforcement officer who was performing his official duties.

On Feb. 16, police responded to a reported road rage incident at 5 a.m. in Laie and found Patoc standing next to his Toyota 4Runner in the middle of the road on Iosepa Street.

Patoc was armed with a foot-long metal tool. He used it to strike police officer Nakia Newton twice to the back of the head, then drove off in Newton’s subsidized vehicle.

The stolen Ford Explorer was spotted heading north on Kamehameha Highway along the North Shore, in Wahiawa, then heading south on the H-2 freeway.

Patoc eventually stopped the Explorer in front of Iolani Palace. After a brief struggle, police arrested him at about 7 a.m.