A former Hilo businessman is suing the Hawaii Police Department and two of its officers, claiming he was wrongly arrested, his civil rights were violated, one of his firearms was stolen after a search of his home, and police tampered with his cellphone.
Honolulu attorney Joseph Rosenbaum filed the civil lawsuit Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court on behalf of 44-year-old Christopher Kagawa, who co-owned Infinity Concrete Pumping in Hilo for more than a decade.
The two officers named in the lawsuit are Sgt. Michael Santos and Officer Alric Dalere, both assigned to South Hilo Patrol Division.
The suit seeks monetary damages, a judgment that Kagawa’s rights were violated and an injunction ordering HPD “to prohibit further excessive force and civil rights violations on its citizens.”
“Mr. Kagawa simply wants … the police department to take some sort of accountability for it and to clean up their act,” Rosenbaum told the Tribune-Herald on Wednesday.
According to the suit, Kagawa hired Llewellyn Kaui in 2018 as a laborer and concrete pump operator. Over a period of about three years, the suit alleges Kaui threatened to kill Kagawa and his family, sent threatening text messages to Kagawa, choked a co-worker, pulled a gun and shot a bird while on “a side job,” and drove a company truck so erratically co-workers thought he might run them over.
The truck was damaged, according to the complaint, and a fuel credit card was stolen from the truck with an unauthorized charge of $6,177.82.
The suit claims Kagawa called HPD on July 14, 2021, to report the truck intentionally damaged and the fuel card stolen and used by Kaui, but was told he didn’t have enough information to file a police report.
A week later, Kaui showed up at Kagawa’s house, blocked Kagawa’s driveway with his car, and walked toward the house while stripping down to his underwear as Kagawa, who was home alone, repeatedly yelled at Kaui to leave, the suit alleges.
At that point, police arrived without Kagawa having called them, according to the complaint.
The suit claims Dalere approached Kagawa and pointed an assault rifle at him. When Kagawa identified himself as the homeowner, he was handcuffed by Dalere, the suit alleges. Kagawa’s house was then searched, and officers confiscated his firearms, all lawfully registered, according to the suit.
When officers asked if he was on any medication, he told them yes and where it was located, according to the complaint, but officers returned with Kagawa’s wife’s medication instead.
The lawsuit claims that on the day of the incident, Kaui trespassed onto Kagawa’s property and that Kagawa’s firearms were inside while Kagawa was outside, but Kagawa was accused of pointing a firearm at Kaui. It also alleges that Dalere ignored Kagawa when he told Dalere that Kagawa and his family had been threatened by Kaui.
According to the suit, Dalere is friends with Kaui on Facebook and possibly related to him. The complaint also alleges Kaui was an HPD informant.
While in the Hilo police cellblock after his arrest, Kagawa reported pain and numbness in his hand, arms and chest, but was denied medical attention, according to the complaint. After some time, Kagawa was taken to the hospital, where it was determined he’d suffered a stroke while in police custody.
Other allegations include Santos and Dalere interrogating Kagawa under duress after he’d suffered the stroke, despite instructions from Kagawa’s attorney, the late Brian De Lima, to not question his client without De Lima present.
Kagawa was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening and released after posting $2,000 bail. The charge was dropped on Aug. 24, 2021, and Kagawa was granted a three-year injunction against Kaui a month later, according to court records.
About two to three weeks after his arrest, Kagawa found his cellphone near his house. According to the suit, text messages had been erased and the “Find my iPhone” app indicated the phone had been at the police station. Kagawa’s service provider said the phone’s sim card had been replaced.
Kagawa was allowed to retrieve his firearms on Oct. 8, 2021, according to the lawsuit, but a .22 caliber rifle and a part of another firearm were missing. His legal representatives were told they couldn’t file a stolen firearms report because Kagawa had moved to the mainland, the suit alleges.
The suit also claims that a letter mailed Dec. 2, 2022, by Rosenbaum to Acting HPD Chief Kenneth Bugado Jr. requesting assistance in filing a stolen firearms report was received on Dec. 5 but hadn’t been replied to when the suit was filed.
According to Rosenbaum, Kagawa “uprooted his entire family and moved to the mainland” out of fear.
Rosenbaum said the amount of monetary damages his client will seek is “very hard to say.”
“Obviously, he had a stroke while he was in custody, and he’s still experiencing physical symptoms of those issues,” he said. “So, I don’t want to speculate on the ultimate demand that will be put in front of a jury, but it will be substantial.
“Mr. Kagawa is a totally law-abiding, clean member of society, and he wants the police department to sort out the bad apples.”
A Wednesday email from police spokeswoman Denise Laitinen said Bugado stated the department does “not comment on pending litigation.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.