Oahu taxpayers will foot the bill to hire three Honolulu law firms at up to $100,000 each to defend the city Ethics Commission, former Executive Director Chuck Totto and former investigator Letha DeCaires in a case filed by Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his family.

The Honolulu City Council voted unanimously to approve the funding at its meeting Wednesday.

The civil lawsuit, filed in June by Kealoha, wife Katherine and their underaged daughter, Christina, alleges a host of improprieties by Totto and DeCaires, a retired Honolulu Police Department captain. Totto resigned in June, after multiple run-ins with the Caldwell administration and Caldwell- appointed members of the Ethics Commission. DeCaires left the commission in September 2015.

The Kealohas allege that since 2013, Totto and DeCaires “conducted a series of unfounded, vindictive unsubstantiated and illegal investigations” against their family at great cost to taxpayers, the lawsuit states. Additionally, it claims that the actions of the two “caused irreparable harm” to the Honolulu Police Department and the city prosecutor’s office. Katherine Kealoha is a deputy prosecutor.

Chong, Nishimoto, Sia, Nakamura and Goya are representing the city and the Ethics Commission, Cox Fricke LLP is representing Totto, and Kobayashi Sugita and Goda are representing DeCaires.

The three sets of attorneys are necessary “to avoid possible conflicts of interest,” city Corporation Counsel Donna Leong said in a statement.

Louis and Katherine Kealoha, meanwhile, are the subject of a federal probe involving alleged improprieties at HPD tied to the alleged theft of the Kealohas’ mailbox in front of their Kahala home. Grand jury indictments are pending.

On Friday, the Council approved a $6 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by a motorcycle rider who sustained permanent injuries after being struck by an on-duty police officer’s SUV in 2013.

The city will pay $1.7 million of the settlement while National Interstate Insurance Co., insurance carrier for HPD’s subsidized vehicle program, will pay $300,000, while Genesis Insurance Co., the city’s excess insurance carrier, will pay $4 million.

“The settlement of this case was based on the specific facts of the case and, after consideration of the recommendations of the city’s insurance carriers, who have agreed to pay most of the total settlement amount,” Leong said in a statement.

Matthew Turull, an Army Ranger, was driving his 2011 Big Bear motorcycle south on Kaukonahua Road at about 7:05 a.m. on a Sunday in June 2013 when he was struck by a Toyota 4Runner driven by HPD Cpl. Gabriel Gonsalves III. Gonsalves was traveling north on Kaukonahua and was attempting to turn left onto Kaamooloa Road when he struck the motorcycle, court documents said.

Turull “suffered severe bodily injuries, suffered shock, great pain of body and mind, emotional distress, mental anguish, conscious pain and suffering, permanent scarring and was otherwise permanently injured,” court documents said.

The injuries included a left ankle fracture that required multiple surgeries and a finger amputation and surgery, court documents said.

The settlement is expected to pay for Turull’s ongoing medical bills as well as the lost wages as the result of his injuries. Turull was an Army lieutenant, but after the accident was deemed “unfit for service.” The injuries reportedly hinder him from doing many jobs.

Turull is no longer in the military and is believed to be on the mainland and working part time.

“This case involves an unfortunate motor vehicle accident in which Mr. Turull’s motorcycle made contact with a subsidized vehicle driven by an on-duty officer of the Honolulu Police Department,” Leong said. “As a result of the accident, Mr. Turull suffered significant injuries.”

Rick Fried, Turull’s attorney, declined to comment on the settlement.

An HPD Vehicular Homicide Section investigation report determined that Gonsalves drove in a negligent manner by not yielding the right of way to the motorcycle, court documents said. Following an investigation by HPD’s Professional Standards Office, the department’s Administrative Review Board “imposed disciplinary action consisting of counseling and remedial training,” court documents said.

An HPD spokeswoman said Gonsalves has been with the department 14 years and is now a sergeant assigned to the Waianae-Kapolei patrol district.

Councilman Ron Menor, chairman of the Council Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, said the settlement was not something relished by Council members and “does not do much for the image of the Hono- lulu Police Department.”

In recent years, there has been a string of criminal and civil incidents involving HPD officers.