The parents, wife and minor son of a man who died after being shot with an electric stun gun by police in mid-March are suing the city and the three Honolulu police officers they maintain were involved in the incident.
Lawyers for the family of Sheldon Haleck filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.
Haleck, 38, of Kapolei, died at the Queen’s Medical Center the morning after the incident. Surviving Haleck are his father, who is retired from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Admin-istration; his mother; his wife; and his son, who turns 3 years old next week.
The city-issued autopsy report says Haleck was acutely intoxicated with methamphetamine and died from multiple metabolic and cardiac complications due to, or as a consequence of, a physical altercation with police.
The medical examiner’s report says the manner of death is homicide.
Honolulu police have said Haleck was running in the middle of King Street near Iolani Palace and acting erratically. They said he refused to leave the street, ran away and evaded officers as they approached him. They described Haleck as combative.
Police said pepper spray and two shots from a Taser were ineffective in stopping Haleck but that he later tripped and fell on the street. They said Haleck became unresponsive after officers escorted him to the sidewalk.
The family’s lawyer, Eric Seitz, said, “We don’t believe what the police are saying or have said tersely about this event.”
The lawsuit also names as defendants the city, Corporation Counsel Donna Leong and Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha. The family members contend the city is trying to cover up what really happened to Haleck on March 16 on King Street, Seitz said.
The family doesn’t believe the use of a Taser was justified because although Haleck may have had mental health and drug use issues, there is no evidence that he resisted arrest or was a threat to or tried to harm anyone, Seitz said. And he said video recorded by cameras attached to police-issued Tasers confirm that.
Seitz said the city has stonewalled the family’s efforts to get police reports of the incident and other prior events. He said the city gave the family the autopsy report one day after it had released it to the media and never provided the family with the Taser videos. He said the family got the videos from the media.
The officers named in the lawsuit are Christopher Chung, a 14-year HPD veteran; Samantha Critchlow, a 10-year police veteran; and Stephen Kardash, a nine-year veteran. It was Critchlow who shot Haleck twice with her Taser, according to the lawsuit. All three officers are assigned to the downtown Honolulu District and remain on full duty.
The city Department of the Corporation Counsel and HPD declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Rob Shikina contributed to this story.
