Honolulu May Spend $75K to Settle Case of Alleged Police Brutality
Waipahu resident Justin Kaawa claims that two officers beat him up and pepper sprayed聽him without provocation.
The Honolulu City Council is expected to approve a $75,000 settlement this week in a case involving allegations that two Honolulu police officers beat up a Waipahu resident.
According to court records, Justin Kaawa claimed the incident occurred after Officer Jeffrey Fleigner pulled him over April 12, 2011, on the H-1 freeway near Ko Olina Marina.
Fleigner and an unidentified second police officer then allegedly punched, kicked and choked Kaawa, in addition to pepper-spraying him three times, Kaawa claimed.
From 2003 to May 2014, the city settled nearly 100 cases involving police officers at a total cost of about $5.7 million.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
Kaawa 聽in 2011 that he spent two days in the hospital as a result.
The Honolulu City Council the $75,000 settlement for the civil lawsuit during its meeting Wednesday.
Despite the pending settlement,聽the city contended it was Kaawa who assaulted the police officers after he was pulled over. The city said Kaawa was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest and drunken driving, among other charges.
The city also wrote that it “lacks the the knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of allegations” regarding whether Fleigner beat up Kaawa.
The city denied Kaawa’s contention that the Honolulu Police Department doesn’t sufficiently train its officers in the use of force during an arrest.
Kaawa’s case is part of a string of lawsuits against Honolulu police over the past decade. A 2014 Civil Beat analysis found that from Jan. 1, 2003, and May 1, 2014, the city settled nearly 100 cases involving police officers at a total cost of about $5.7 million.
Hawaii is the only state without a statewide police standards board and officers are rarely fired for misconduct.
