A friend of a Hilo man accused of the nonfatal shooting of two police officers early last year in Hilo said he ran toward the scene of the shooting to check on the suspect’s welfare — and was beaten by officers shortly thereafter.
Testifying Tuesday in the attempted murder trial of Keaka Martin, David Carroll said he and Martin “were like brothers” prior to the shootings of officers Garrett Hatada and Joshua Gouveia on Jan. 2, 2013.
Carroll testified that while his girlfriend was working, Martin showed up at the couple’s Maile Street apartment with a bottle of rum that he and Martin finished. Carroll said his girlfriend called and told him to get some milk for their son, so he and Martin left the apartment sometime after 7 p.m. It was Carroll’s intention to go to the Kilauea Shell Food Mart.
Carroll said that before he could go to the convenience store, Martin stopped by a banyan tree and “asked if it was OK to pop off some rounds” from a “weapon that he had bought for his own security purposes.”
“I didn’t feel secure about it because we were in the city limits. And not only that, there was an officer pulling in across the water in Wailoa State Park,” Carroll testified.
Carroll testified that Martin fired all the bullets from from the semi-automatic pistol and loaded another clip into the firearm.
“When the lights from the police officers started shining into the field … we started crawling like military soldiers,” he said. Carroll said that after crawling for about a half-hour, he and Martin headed toward Kilauea Avenue.
“My destination was the Shell gas station, but he insisted that I go with him to … Pono Place,” he said. Carroll said when they got to Pono Place, he left to buy milk.
Carroll said when he returned to his apartment, Martin’s girlfriend was there and asked about Martin. He said he’d go to Pono Place to check on him.
“And then what happened?” asked Deputy Prosecutor Darien Nagata.
“There was a series of gunshots, maybe eight. They were not all from the same weapon,” Carroll said.
“I ran hysterically towards that direction, under the impression that my friend was shot and I wanted to talk to the police and ask why they shot him. … As I was crossing the bridge, a police officer came from Pono Place and started yelling at me, ‘Get back. Get back.’”
Carroll said he returned to the apartment complex and was talking to neighbors outside when police came to question him about “why I approached them that way.”
“I was mentally distraught,” he said.
“The police officers slammed me on the ground and they beat me up.” Carroll testified. He said he was taken to the police cellblock and stayed there three days.
Carroll pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge Jan. 4, 2013, and was sentenced by 3rd Circuit District Judge Barbara Takase to 21 hours of community service.
Martin’s attorney, Steve Strauss, deferred cross-examination of Carroll until the defense portion of the trial, which is expected to start March 31.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.