A man initially identified by police as a possible suspect in the New Year’s Day pursuit and shootouts sued the city Tuesday alleging officers hit him with a car before beating him.
On Jan. 1 at 4:11 p.m., Tevita Cadiente, 25, and his father, Vaokehekehe Mataele, 49, both residents of a condominium near the intersection of Varsity Place and University Avenue, heard police chasing attempted murder suspect Sidney Tafokitau, 44, and went outside to watch, according to a statement from one of their attorneys, Elise C. Anderson.
Tafokitau was shot and killed by police after he opened fire and wounded two officers on University Avenue. Those officers were hospitalized and released recently to continue their recovery at home.
“Mr. Mataele and Mr. Cadiente, who like the suspect are both Tongan and who knew Mr. Tafokitau from church, stepped outside to observe the activity. Hearing gunshots at or around 4:14 p.m., hoping nobody had yet been killed and that they might be able to help prevent bloodshed, the father and son began jogging up University Ave,” wrote Anderson.
Cadiente, “attempted twice to call Mr. Tafokitau, within the same minute, in hopes that he might be able to encourage Mr. Tafokitau to safely surrender,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that, before Cadiente and Mataele made it to the overpass, an “unmarked white Honda pulled up in front of them, cutting off their path.”
“Two plain clothes officers emerged, pointing firearms at the unarmed father and son, who were in slippers and barefoot, Mr. Cadiente carrying only a cell phone and Mr. Mataele carrying nothing at all. The lawsuit describes how, as the father and son stood unarmed with their hands up, shocked and confused, a large black police van climbed the curb and ran Mr. Cadiente into a chain-link fence,” wrote Anderson. “With the fence absorbing the vehicle’s impact, Mr. Cadiente’s body slid under the police van. The lawsuit alleges that officers pulled Mr. Cadiente out from under the van, then began viciously beating him in the head, approximately 10-12 officers in turn using both their hands and the blunt ends of their weapons.”
Cadiente suffered a facial fracture, a traumatic subconjunctival hemorrhage, a concussion, orthopedic knee injuries, cognitive impairment including memory loss and confusion, and vision loss, according to the lawsuit.
While the police officers were allegedly beating Cadiente, “it was briefly stated on the local news, in statements now removed from public view, that Mr. Cadiente was the attempted murder suspect. Videos were also posted on social media, indicating that Mr. Cadiente had been the object of the manhunt who was thus being apprehended.”
Cadiente and Mataele allege the officers hurled obscenities at them during the encounter.
The complaint also alleges that Mataele “shouted to the officers that he and his son were not involved in the chase, but that officers ignored his words and continued beating Mr. Cadiente for multiple minutes on end. Mr. Mataele was also allegedly held down and handcuffed, his head forced onto the pavement so he could not see or protect his son.”
Cadiente and Mataele sat with solemn expressions between their attorneys at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The clients did not speak during the conference, and their attorneys declined requests for them to comment.
“The city defers comment to the Honolulu Police Department,” Scott Humber, city communications director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
When asked about Cadiente and Mataele’s allegations, HPD declined comment.
“The department is declining to comment due to the pending litigation. The criminal investigation and administrative review into the incident are continuing,” said Michelle Yu, HPD spokesperson.
The allegations outlined in the lawsuit are the first details to emerge about Cadiente’s injuries.
On Jan. 1, HPD said a man was hospitalized after being hit with a police vehicle and officers were working to determine if he had anything to do with the chase and shootouts police had with Tafokitau.
HPD Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan did not mention Cadiente and Mataele’s injuries or interactions with police when briefing Mayor Rick Blangiardi and his Cabinet.
The HPD chief also didn’t mention it during a public discussion about the event and police response at the City Council’s committee on Executive Management on Jan. 11.
Michael D. Rudy, an attorney for the family, said at a news conference Wednesday from his Bishop Street office that Cadiente and Mataele were “absolutely traumatized by what happened” and in a state of shock that “they could be, particularly in Tevita’s case, beaten to a pulp by HPD.”
“We’re certainly ready, willing and able to take this to trial. Had these officers merely looked up 300 yards, visually in line of sight, they would have seen many HPD officers, and they would have seen the car crash of the assailant’s stolen vehicle, and possibly, the assailant lying down on the road as well. But they did not,” said Rudy. “This is a case of complete and utter disregard for any sense of proper police procedures. … It is a blatant example of a failure to train these officers, a failure to supervise them, a failure to ensure that the public — no matter how and what the exigent circumstances are — that the public is protected during these chase scenes. This is nothing short of an abomination.”
“It is incredible that there was no communication between these individuals at HPD who were trailing this chase and the front-line vehicles that cut off the assailant and eventually subdued him with mortal gunshot wounds,” Rudy continued. “We cannot have our police force that we put our trust in committing these acts that are absolutely atrocious, willful and with callous disregard to the safety of our citizens here in Honolulu.”
Communication sought
Honolulu Police Commission Chair Doug Chin, a former city managing director and state attorney general, told Logan he understands a city department head being cautious when responding to serious allegations in a lawsuit. But he said he didn’t think “no comment” was adequate.
Logan told commissioners Wednesday that he didn’t know if the department was named in the lawsuit or what the allegations against the officers were.
“Is it to HPD? Is it to the city? That’s part of what we need to understand. We don’t know what we don’t know so I can’t go down the road of trying to comment on something (that) I’m not sure what the allegations are,” said Logan, speaking to commissioners Wednesday. “If in fact it is to us, and we have a chance to discern what it says, then I think, at that point in time, you are absolutely right.”
Chin cautioned that communities have a different expectation about what police say in response to serious allegations.
HPD “might want to add a value statement. Say something like ‘its important to the department that it not commit police brutality.’… ‘If any of this is true we certainly don’t condone it.’… ‘We’re going to investigate this.’… ‘It’s all part of the ongoing investigation.’… ‘We will hold people accountable as necessary,’ any of those sentences would be helpful,” said Chin, listing examples of possible HPD talking points. “When I was in the mayor’s office, or when I was the attorney general and I worked with a public information officer, if they presented me with a statement like that in response to huge accusations, I would not accept it.”
Commission Vice Chair Kenneth Silva, a former Honolulu fire chief, told Logan that starting a new year by applying the lessons learned from the Jan. 1 event to HPD’s ever-evolving public communications plan would be good.
He agreed with an observation from Commissioner Carrie K.S. Okinaga, an attorney, who noted that broad changes to policy might not be needed to address such rare circumstances if the public notification policy works “99% of the time.”
But improvements are always needed to increase department transparency.
“That whole communication piece, there is an expectation of more. What is the responsible way to do it? The way to do it, that’s going to be the tough part for you folks, what, and when (to notify the public in active threat cases.) But I would agree that we can no longer comment the way that we had in the past. We should just think about it,” said Silva.
“Absolutely, thank you,” Logan said.
HPD lawsuit by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
