Trial Of Officers Charged In Makaha Pursuit Continued To June 3
Four Honolulu police officers are accused of pursuing a car until it crashed and leaving the scene.
The trial of four Honolulu police officers charged in connection with a 2021 vehicle pursuit in Makaha that injured six people has been continued until June 3, according to the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney鈥檚 Office.
Officers Joshua Nahulu, Erik Smith, Jake Bartolome and Robert Lewis, who are accused of chasing a car until it crashed and leaving the scene on Sept. 12, 2021, were previously scheduled for trial on Dec. 18.
Nahulu is charged with collision involving death or serious injury. Smith, Bartolome and Lewis are each charged with one count of hindering prosecution in the first degree and conspiring to hinder prosecution.
They pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The officers are accused of pursuing a car carrying six people up Farrington Highway until it crashed. Prosecutors say they then fled, regrouped in another location and returned to the scene pretending not to have known what happened.
All six occupants of the car were injured.
The driver, Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati, was in a coma in a 鈥渧egetative state鈥 for months after the crash and a 14-year-old passenger, Dayten Gouveia, was paralyzed from the waist down.
Attorneys representing Gouveia and Perkins-Sinapati have filed lawsuits against the officers and city leaders. Eric Seitz, who is representing Gouveia and Michael Green, who is representing Perkins-Sinapati, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on Monday.
Attorney Michael Stern represented the other four passengers in a separate lawsuit that the Honolulu City Council agreed to settle for $4.5 million in February. Stern said all of his clients were injured in the crash. One suffered an eye injury and two had spinal fractures, he said.
They have also suffered from PTSD and were too afraid to get into cars for a long time after the incident, he said.
Richard Sing, an attorney representing the officers, declined to comment.
Chief Joe Logan decided on disciplinary measures for the officers in August, but the details of his decision have not been made public.
All four officers remain employed by the department, but their police powers have been removed and they are assigned to non-patrol duties, spokeswoman Michelle Yu said in an email. They are receiving their normal pay.
They all earn between $75,240 and $113,028, according to Civil Beat’s public employee salary database.
Nahulu is out on a $10,000 bond, and Smith, Bartolome and Lewis were each released on $5,000 bond.
Nahulu recently acquired permission from the court to travel outside the state to Las Vegas between Dec. 4 and Dec. 11., according to court documents.
