Operation SPEED Nets 634 Citations, 6 Arrests

File photo from previous campaign.  Speed Enforcement Team officers along Kahului Beach Road on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Maui police issued a total of 634 tickets, 530 of them for speeding during the Operation SPEED traffic enforcement campaign last week.

In addition to the speeding citations, Maui Police Traffic Department Sgt. William Hankins said six tickets were issued for using a mobile electronic device while driving, and 21 seat belt citations were issued.

An additional 77 citations were also issued for other violation, said Sgt. Hankins.

During the week, officers also made six arrests, three of them for outstanding warrants, police said.

This included the arrest of Stanceford Kaina, who was stopped for speeding last week Wednesday, but was wanted in connection with the robbery of the Wailuku Minit Stop reported earlier that morning, police said.

Officers with the Kīhei Traffic Enforcement Detail located the 23-year-old man operating a 2007 Nissan Pick up truck, described as the get-away vehicle, and stopped him on the Honoapiʻilani Highway, at Māʻalaea near the Carl’s Jr. Drive In.

Police also arrested a 29-year-old woman for resisting orders to stop and reckless driving in Kahului, said Sgt. Hankins.

According to Sgt. Hankins, the “primary goal during the operation was to make Maui County’s roadways safe for the entire public to use, and to reduce the number of motor vehicle collisions in which death occurs, as it is related to speeding.”

The campaign ran from Monday, July 22, and concluded on Saturday, July 27, and focused on all major Maui highways with patrol officers from Wailuku, Kihei and Lahaina participating.

Members of the Maui Police Department Traffic Section assisted by patrol officers from Wailuku, Kīhei, & Lahaina participated in a weeklong Speed Enforcement Education Detail (SPEED) beginning Monday July 22 and concluding Saturday July 27.