Five Honolulu police officers under investigation for the past three years had no choice but to shoot and kill a 30-year-old convicted felon in a gas station parking lot who had a gun and was trying to evade the arresting officers who were protecting their colleagues and the community.
No charges will be filed against the three officers who fired the fatal shots, following the completion of an investigation by the Honolulu Police Department’s Professional Standard’s Office and the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.
“The officers acted professionally, they were patient and made multiple attempts to tell him to stop the vehicle,” said Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm, speaking to reporters. “He (Michael Kahalehoe) turned to the right to where the other officers were coming and was headed toward where at least three of the officers were coming. … They all shot into it at around the same time. They were all justified in taking the shots that they did. The fatal shots came from officers one, three and seven.”
Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan said he agreed with Alm’s decision.
“The taking of a life is the option of last resort for a police officer, who trains to protect others and must live with the consequences of the use of deadly force,” he said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“In this case, the officers were attempting to apprehend two individuals who were wanted for multiple armed robberies and located in a stolen vehicle. The suspects’ reckless actions endangered the lives of officers and passersby, and we are thankful that others were not injured.”
On Nov. 12, 2019, Kahalehoe, 30, was on the run after being convicted of promoting a dangerous drug, unlawful use of a dangerous drug paraphernalia and driving without a incense.
He was sentenced Jan. 23, 2019, according to court documents, and had three felony car theft prosecutions and one felony drug theft case.
On Nov. 12, 2019, five plainclothes HPD Crime Reduction Unit and Criminal Investigation Division officers who were not wearing body-worn cameras identified a blue Subaru sedan Kahalehoe was driving at the Shell station at 577 Farrington Highway in Kapolei as matching the description of one that had been reported stolen several days earlier, according to the complaint, and used by masked gunmen who stole a watch and a necklace.
Kahalehoe was with Melvin Spillner, a suspect in the Nov. 10, 2019, armed robbery of the blue Subaru the pair was allegedly driving to commit robberies, according to state court documents.
The officers surrounded Kahalehoe’s vehicle and started firing with provocation or justification, according to the complaint. A search after the shooting revealed Kahalehoe had a handgun tucked into his waistband.
The night of the shooting, Spillner pulled up next to a black car driven by his fiancee and got out to pump gas and talk story with her, according to the final report of the shooting by Alm’s office.
At 10:36 p.m., five unmarked police cars, a Ford Expedition, a Toyota 4Runner, a Nissan Rogue, a Ford Escape and a Toyota Sienna van, rolled up on Kahalehoe and Spillner. The officers believed both men had guns and were willing to open fire.
“We are pleased that upon completion of a thorough review of all of the facts and evidence, the prosecuting attorney found that the use of force in this incident was justified,” said Robert Cavaco, State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers president and an HPD lieutenant. “Our officers attempted to arrest two suspects they believed to be armed that were involved in multiple robberies, (and) one suspect refused multiple lawful commands to turn off his vehicle. Instead, the suspect accelerated towards one of our officers, hitting a vehicle and causing our officers to discharge their weapons to protect their lives and the lives of fellow officers.”
Spillner saw the Sienna and immediately thought it was an unmarked police car. He darted across the fueling island and tried to hide behind his fiancee’s Honda. He was tackled to the ground, according to the report.
Several officers walked with guns drawn and aimed at the Subaru with Kahalehoe behind the wheel.
“Turn off the vehicle and put your hands up,” officers ordered, according to the report.
Officer 2, armed with a Glock 17, approached the front passenger side corner of the Subaru and Kahalehoe drove toward him. The officer stopped and identified himself as Kahalehoe reached under the steering wheel before reversing into the officer’s Sienna.
Video of Kahalehoe’s attempts to escape show him running into police vehicles.
At one point, Kahalehoe swung the Subaru in an arc to hit three officers, prompting a fourth officer to fire 11 rounds from his Sig Sauer model P226 elite 9 mm handgun into the back of the window of the Subaru. Officer 4 stopped firing when he saw Kahalehoe lean over toward the center console to his right for his waistband and seat area, a common place to keep a handgun, according to police.
Officer 1 fired “several times with his rifle,” a Colt model AR-15 A1 caliber .223 hitting Kahalehoe in the right forehead, and four times in the right shoulder and chest.
Officer 3 fired on Kahalehoe from about 15 feet behind the passenger side rear-glass window, hitting him in the left shoulder, left upper back, and left forearm.
Officer 7 shot him three times from the front passenger side with his Glock 17, according to the report, hitting him in the left chest, right abdomen and right shoulder.
Officers performed first aid but couldn’t save Kahalehoe. They found a gun in his waistband, loaded but without a round in the chamber. Dr. Michael Dung pronounced him dead at 11:04 p.m. from injuries sustained by 12 gunshot wounds. A toxicology screen revealed caffeine, amphetamine and methamphetamine.
The shooting prompting an October 2021 lawsuit against the department.
Kahalehoe’s family is suing the Honolulu Police Department for negligence and wrongful death.
A complaint against the city and HPD was filed in Circuit Court last year by Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz on behalf of Raynette Kahalehoe, the mother of Michael Kahalehoe.
One of the five officers has since died by natural causes.
“The positions they say they were in at the time of the shooting were not the positions they were in. I don’t care what the prosecutor says about the shooting. We’ll see them in court,” said Seitz.
Kahalehoe PPT by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
Officer-Involved Shooting Report No. 2022-03 by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
Officer-Involved Shooting Report No. 2022-03 by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
