77
The city has agreed to pay $5,000 to a man who says two Honolulu police officers roughed him up then told him they wouldn’t charge him if he refused medical treatment.
Lawyers for the man, Joshua I. Adkins, and the city announced the settlement in U.S. District Court on Monday.
Adkins sued the officers, Dean Terakawa and Dennis Ahn, for assault and battery, violating his constitutional rights and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He sued the city for negligence.
In the lawsuit, Adkins says the mother of his son went to his home on Sept. 29, 2013, to pick up the boy for a weekend visit and that the officers accompanied her.
After the boy and mother left, Adkins said the officers told him they were going to arrest him for custodial interference and refused to look at his court order regarding his son’s custody. Adkins said Terakawa forced him facedown onto the ground, Ahn planted a knee in his back, and both of them handcuffed him and lifted him up by his arms to put him into Ahn’s vehicle.
Adkins said the officers took him to the Queen’s Medical Center after he told them they had hurt his back. Before getting examined by a doctor, Adkins said, the officers told him they would drop the charges against him if he refused treatment. He said he agreed and was taken to Honolulu Police Department headquarters, where he was released a short time later.
