• 
  Sidney Tafokitau – a felon who is prohibited from possessing a high powered rifle – triggered a manhunt on the entire island of Hawaii, New Year’s Day.
  
• 
  Tafokitau is accused of shooting a woman and carjacking another under threat of violence. He also engaged in a shootout that injured two Honolulu Police officers.
  
• 
  Court records reveal Tafokitau’s criminal past, including a sentence of 20 years for robbery.
  

A felon who was barred from possessing the high-powered weapon he used in a shootout with Honolulu Police, which left two officers injured and the suspect deceased, was the subject of a manhunt on the island New Year’s Day .

Sidney Tafokitau is accused of shooting one woman and carjacking a second woman under gunpoint, before leading police on a chase through the island of Oahu. Just two weeks earlier, he had also posted bail on gun-related allegations.

the police was criticized for the pursuit, and for failing to alert the public.

HAWAII MAN ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER STEALS CAR AT GUNPOINT, DIES AFTER FIREFIGHT WITH POLICE

The Associated Press reported that “I think there has been a lot said in the last 48 hours about how the system failed.” Doug Chin is the chair of the Honolulu Police Commission, and Hawaii’s ex-attorney general. “I’ve heard reports that his bail was too high, that he was carrying an unregistered gun, that the information released to the public was insufficient, or that he shouldn’t have been pursued at all,” Doug Chin, chair of the Honolulu Police Commission and Hawaii’s former attorney general, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

He said that more information is needed before he can make any conclusions. The issue will be discussed during the commission’s meeting this month. He said that a situation of this gravity would test the system as a whole.

Tafokitau has a lengthy criminal record, which includes a 20-year sentence for robbery as well as convictions for firearm crimes. In November, Tafokitau pleaded no contest to several firearm charges, including possession of a firearm by a felon. He was released on bail of $75,000, down from the original $150,000. Jon Ikegana of the State Public Defender’s office, which represented him, refused to comment on Wednesday.

Honolulu Police asked the public for help to locate Tafokitau in mid-December. They called him dangerous and armed, and claimed he had committed a shooting.

2 DEAD, 2 INJURED NEAR HONOLULU AFTER SHOOTING BREAKS OUT AT BOAT HARBOR

Arthur “Joe Logan”, Chief of Honolulu Police, defended the decision not to issue alerts after Monday’s shooting culminated near University of Hawaii main campus. Logan said that police did not want the public to get involved in the “fluid”, fast-moving chase, which he called.

Police said that Tafokitau had an AR-15 rifle of the type not registered. The Honolulu Police Department spokesperson did not respond to an AP inquiry asking for a reaction to criticisms about the chase, which was described at times as occurring at high speed.

The police also confirmed that a woman shot just before the chase on Monday as well as two officers injured in the shootout remained hospitalized as of Wednesday evening. The officers are expected to recover.

John McCarthy, former Honolulu Police deputy chief, told Hawaii News Now that officers who pursued other vehicles endangered them.

He told Honolulu’s news stations that “they forgot their basic mission of protecting life and property.” “They endangered both life and property.”

Hawaii News Now reported that Erin Valentine, a motorist from Honolulu’s suburb of Kaneohe was carjacked by Tafokitau when he was involved in an accident during the pursuit.

She told a TV station that “he opened the car door, raised the gun directly to my face, and said, Get out'”.

The officers were defended by the Hawaii State Police Union and Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi.

A HAWAIIAN lawyer says that the victim of a murder in Love Triangle Hawaii cheated with multiple women.

Blangiardi stated that the situation would have been much worse without the bravery and sacrifice of our officers.

Officers who were already on the lookout to capture him after the December stabbing, shooting and shooting Monday, had to pursue him in order to catch him, said Honolulu Lieutenant Robert Cavaco. He is the president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Cavaco stated that “for our officers, this was a very difficult situation to handle because he fired at them multiple times during the chase.”

Chin, chair of the police commission, expressed shock at the shocking situation in a state and city with historically low violent crimes per person compared to the rest of the U.S.

Chin stated that “what strikes me as extreme” is the length of the spree of crimes, the number and variety of incidents involved, and the different locations the suspect was found in on Oahu.