'Combative' man dies following arrest near Iolani Palace

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - [Update]

Sources say the victim is 38-year-old Sheldon Haleck.

Friends of Haleck say he was a father, from a well-known family originally from Pago Pago in American Samoa, and a graduate of Kaiser High School.

Our sources say, this weekend on Saturday, Haleck was involved in an accident.

They said he fled the scene and was later booked for resisting arrest.

[Original Report]

An unruly man who police tased and pepper-sprayed as he attempted to evade authorities has died following the incident, according to officials with the Honolulu Police Department.

On Monday evening, March 16, at about 8:15 p.m., Honolulu police officers responded to the area of South King Street fronting Iolani Palace due to a report of a man wearing dark-colored clothes and running in the middle of the roadway, acting erratically. Officers closed South King and Richards Streets throughout the incident.

According to HPD, the male refused to leave the roadway, continuously running away from the officers. Police tried using pepper spray, but it was ineffective. An electric gun was then deployed twice but was also ineffective. Police say the man eventually tripped and fell while trying to run away, giving officers an opportunity to gain control of the man, described as "combative", and place him under arrest.

The man was escorted to the sidewalk, but he suddenly became unresponsive. HPD officials say the suspect was taken in an ambulance to the Queens Medical Center, where he died. His cause of death has not been released.

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