The father of a man who died after police shot him twice with an electric stun gun wants a federal civil rights investigation into his son’s death.
William Haleck sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni this week asking for the investigation. He sent a copy of the letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. David Ige. Haleck says he has not received a response.
His son, Sheldon Haleck, 38, died March 17 at the Queen’s Medical Center after he was arrested by Honolulu police officers the night before for walking in the middle of King Street in front of ‘Iolani Palace and refusing their orders to get onto the sidewalk.
William Haleck, a retired officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, says Honolulu police handled the arrest as if his son were a high-profile criminal.
“It was just a public peace disturbance. Police should have approached this in a different way,” he said.
The city-issued autopsy says Sheldon Haleck was acutely intoxicated with methamphetamine and died from “multiple metabolic and cardiac complications as a consequence of physical altercation with police.”
The Honolulu medical examiner classified the death as a homicide. The Honolulu Police Department said it launched an internal investigation after receiving the autopsy report, and the city released a video of the incident that was recorded by a camera on the stun gun.
The Haleck family says it has gotten no assurances from the city that the death is being investigated and has received no response to its requests for the police reports.
“If they were on the up and up, what’s the harm in releasing the reports?” William Haleck said.
Haleck, his wife, and his son’s widow and child are suing the city and the three police officers involved over the death. They are also suing Police Chief Louis Kealoha and city Corporation Counsel Donna Leong for allegedly covering up what really happened.
The city and HPD say they cannot comment on Haleck’s request for a federal investigation because of the pending lawsuit.
The Halecks’ lawyer, Eric Seitz, says Caldwell has a responsibility to tell the public what happened and assure the people the incident is being investigated whether or not there is a lawsuit.
“One has nothing to do with the other. If they’re saying that, they’re lying,” Seitz said.
He says the Halecks are calling on Caldwell to fire Kealoha and assure the public that any officers found culpable for Sheldon Haleck’s death will be held accountable.
