Homeless man suffers from alleged police abuse

The family of a 37-year-old man who was allegedly forced by police officers to lick a urinal said he continues to suffer physically and emotionally from that and other actions amounting to what they allege is an abuse of police power.

“He said not only did they make him lick a urinal, they physically dunked his head into a toilet,” said Hilo resident Mary Ingall, 32. “He was all wet and choking and couldn’t breathe. … They made him sit in pee.”

That resulted in ear infections in both ears, Ingall said. They beat him with a police baton, leaving his left arm bruised.

And he continues to suffer from nightmares after the incident, she said.

Ingall said she and her sister, Melody, traveled to Oahu Feb. 11 to visit their brother Samuel, who is being held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center for a parole violation, after learning of the humiliating and disgusting acts he was forced to perform by police officers.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard made public the allegations on Feb. 3 at a news conference where she announced that the FBI is investigating the Jan. 28 incident.

She said the officers responded to a 911 call of a trespass complaint in the Keeaumoku area, and came across the alleged victim.

Ballard said another officer at the scene left the restroom and was not aware of what was going on.

One of the officers reported the alleged misconduct, and an internal investigation began. The four officers were placed on restricted duty.

Mary Ingall, the youngest of five children, said their single mom, moved to Oahu from the mainland with the four older children and lived in Nanakuli. Samuel is the middle child.

“They’re supposed to serve and protect and not treat somebody like that because they’re homeless, not take advantage of someone just because they have a badge and think they can get away with that,” Mary Ingall said.

Mary Ingall said her brother did not report the incident.

Samuel Ingall told his sisters that one of the officers recorded a video of what happened, she said.

Her brother told her he’s not sure why they treated him that way but suspects it may be because he was with a police officer’s daughter, Ingall said.

She said police have used too much force against him in the past because they don’t think anyone will believe someone who has done drugs.

“We felt like disgusted, and we felt disappointed that that kind of stuff is going on,” Mary Ingall said. “My brother has been through a lot of things. He’s not perfect. He’s made mistakes in his life. He does drugs.

“But he’s still having nightmares from what they did to him,” she said. “It broke our hearts knowing our brother is going through that. We are really thankful for the officer who did report it. They didn’t have to do that — it was the right thing, but they didn’t have to do that.”

Megan Kau, an attorney for one of the accused officers, said her client denies the allegations and was never told why the department has restricted his police authority, “nor has anyone confronted my client with any type of allegation.”

Kau said she was retained because her client lost his police powers.

Kau said Ballard has “jumped the gun,” and has drawn negative attention to the police department by publicizing a mere allegation.

The chief should have waited until a public document such as an indictment comes out, Kau said.

“She should have allowed the PSO (Professional Standards Office) to handle the investigation, then if needed, to the FBI,” Kau said. “Instead she made a grand statement and a grand gesture,” that she wants to clean up the police department.

“I’m fine with a bad police officer’s conduct being reported,” but “this is an unsubstantiated allegation that has not been reported” by a victim.

“I have respect for her (the chief) because she wants us to be able to trust police officers, and they are supposed to uphold the law,” Mary Ingall said. “It’s been shown that a lot of corruption was going on with the last chief of police.”

Ingall said she respects Ballard for “not sweeping it under the rug.”

“She did what she was supposed to do,” she said. “She did what she thought was right.”