WAILUKU - A Kihei man is being held without bail after being charged with attempted murder, The Maui News reported today.

Clinton A.K. Estrella allegedly tried to run down a police officer and repeatedly rammed the officer's car car during a 15-mile chase that ended when Estrella's car went off a Kahakuloa cliff Friday night.

Estrella, 23, is being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center pending a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Wailuku District Court.

"I've lost count of the number of times he rammed the police car. He repeatedly tried to escape," said Judge Barclay MacDonald, who ordered Monday that Estrella be held without bail. "I do find he is a danger to the community, and police should not have to arrest and bring him back here again."

Estrella is charged with first-degree attempted murder in connection with the chase that began when police were called to investigate suspicious activity in the parking lot of the Kamehameha Schools preschool in the Hawaiian Homes Community Center in Paukukalo at 10:30 p.m. Friday.

An anonymous caller reported seeing a gray Nissan Pathfinder in the parking lot with five men inside, one with a handgun. When police arrived, the Pathfinder was empty, but Estrella was driving a Ford Escort that was leaving the parking lot.

In an affidavit filed in court to support the charge, Wailuku patrol officer Brandon Rodrigues reported having his gun drawn after telling the driver to stop and approaching the car. The officer was three to five feet away and crossing in front of the Escort when he heard the engine rev. Rodrigues reported that he barely managed to jump out of the way before the car hit the driver's side of the patrol car and sideswiped a gatepost at the entrance to the parking lot.

Rodrigues followed as Estrella drove on Waiehu Beach Road toward Wailuku, turning onto Eha and Hookahi streets before continuing onto Lower Main Street and through Happy Valley. From there, the car traveled onto Kahekili Highway toward Kahakuloa, swerving into the oncoming lane at times and speeding up to 65 mph, according to the officer's report.

At Milepost 7, just before Mendes Ranch, Estrella stopped briefly after missing a hard right turn in the narrow, winding road. Rodrigues reported getting out of his police car to approach Estrella before jumping back in when he saw the Escort's reverse lights go on. The officer wrote he came "very close to being crushed" between his patrol car and the Escort as Estrella rammed the driver's door of the patrol car.

While momentarily "shaken," Rodrigues reported continuing to follow Estrella, who again stopped after missing another hard right turn near Milepost 8. Estrella again reversed to ram the police car, the officer said. He reported hearing the Escort "burning rubber" as Estrella tried to push the police car backward, driving forward into a cattle fence before again reversing into the police car.

When Estrella made a U-turn to head back in the Wailuku direction, Rodrigues reported getting out of his police car and deploying his Taser stun gun on Estrella. The Escort began to slow but continued to roll, breaking off the Taser wires before Estrella sped off.

Shortly afterward, Estrella went off the cliff, landing about 40 feet down a steep embankment, according to police.

Rodrigues and fellow patrol officer John Surina climbed down to the car, finding no one inside. Then they spotted Estrella trying to climb down the embankment. Estrella jumped down and began to run, with Rodrigues reporting he again deployed his Taser.

Estrella began to tumble downhill and again got up to run before Rodrigues managed to grab Estrella, and the officers took him to the ground.

But the officers reported he continued to struggle, trying to grab Rodrigues' Taser and flashlight despite having a Taser held to his chest and deployed more than once.

"At this point, I suspected Estrella to be under the influence of some type of drug because in spite of all our verbal commands to stop resisting and all of our attempts to subdue Estrella, he continued to fight police and attempt to flee," Rodrigues wrote in his report.

Other officers arrived to help subdue and arrest Estrella at 10:55 p.m.

Police reported four officers were treated after suffering minor injuries. Estrella also suffered minor injuries and was treated by medics at the Wailuku Police Station.

Inside the gold 2000 Ford Escort that Estrella was driving, police could see a backpack containing suspected drug paraphernalia including pipes that could be used to smoke crystal methamphetamine and marijuana, said Lt. John Jakubczak of the Criminal Investigation Division. He said police vice officers obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and were continuing to investigate.

According to the court affidavit, the car belongs to Estrella's wife. She has twice sought restraining orders against him, the last time in November 2005 when she reported he grabbed her by the back of her neck and pushed her in a stairwell after she had taken his cigarettes during an argument at her Kahului apartment.

She requested that Estrella have no contact with her or their son, who was nearly 2 years old at the time, "because Clinton is using ice and is extremely violent."

The restraining order was dissolved in January 2006 when Estrella's wife didn't show up for a court hearing.

Police said Estrella's criminal history includes 45 arrests, seven felony convictions and 16 other convictions for misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor crimes or violations.

According to court records, Estrella is on probation in three criminal cases for convictions for first- and second-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree theft, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and first-degree terroristic threatening with a knife. He was released from jail in August when he was sentenced and given credit for one year he already had spent in jail for crimes occurring in December 2005.

In a 2004 case involving the theft of a purse in a burglary of a neighbor's residence, records show Estrella was twice resentenced after failing to follow requirements of his probation.

In a pending abuse case, 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen had issued a $5,000 bench warrant for Estrella's arrest when he didn't show up for a pretrial conference July 9. He was arrested on the warrant when he was caught Friday night in the attempted-murder case.

In requesting that Estrella be held without bail Monday, Deputy Prosecutor John Tam cited the defendant's record, including six contempt-of-court convictions as well as the felony convictions.

Tam said Estrella put other drivers, besides the police officers, at risk Friday night, with some pulling off the road to avoid colliding with Estrella.

"He is an extreme danger to the community," Tam said.

Deputy Public Defender Gene Evans asked the judge to keep Estrella's bail at $100,000, saying he probably couldn't post that amount.

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