An openly transgender person transitioning from
female to male is suing the city and the Honolulu Police Department after he was allegedly assaulted by officers during a confrontation over COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.
On Sept. 4, 2020, Sally “Tino” Tolentino was “subjected to the use of excessive force and assaulted” when he was arrested by HPD officers outside a 7-Eleven store in Wahiawa, according to an Aug. 30, 2022, civil complaint filed in state court.
The third paragraph of the civil action mentions that Tolentino is “an openly transgender person transitioning from female to male.”
Tolentino went to the 7-Eleven store at 655 California Ave. to buy food with his son and a friend. A store employee asked him to wear a mask before entering the store. The store employee also called the police.
Officers Brent Sylvester and Sgt. Jeffrey Tallion responded to the call. Sylvester has 22 years on the job, and Tallion retired in 2024. Sylvester remains on active duty.
While Tolentino waited in the checkout line, Sylvester, who was not wearing a mask according to the complaint, stuck his head in the door and asked the cashier “if everything was okay.”
The cashier allegedly told Sylvester she “did not know whether everything was okay” and said that she had to ask Tolentino to “wear a mask before entering the store” but that he “ultimately complied.”
Tallion allegedly “forcibly escorted” Tolentino out of the store. Sylvester and Tallion told Tolentino to go home with no explanation.
The officers asked for his identification, and Tolentino allegedly refused.
In body-worn camera footage released to Tolentino’s attorneys, Sylvester is seen standing chest to chest with Tolentino. Tolentino is yelling at Sylvester and getting in his face.
Sylvester’s and Tolentino’s chests collide during Tolentino’s verbal onslaught, and Sylvester whips Tolentino onto the ground with one hand. Both officers move in to handcuff Tolentino, and Sylvester is heard calmly admonishing Tolentino for pushing him.
Tolentino was taken
to Wahiawa General Hospital for treatment before being booked and arrested.
He filed a formal complaint with the Honolulu Police Commission on Jan. 27, 2021.
On April 30, 2021, the charges filed against Tolentino for harassment and for violating the city’s COVID-19 emergency order “were dismissed without prejudice,” according to the complaint.
Tolentino, according to the complaint, suffered “painful and disabling injuries to his head, neck, spine, back and shoulder” for which he continues to
receive treatment.
Tolentino’s attorney, Eric Seitz, HPD and the Department of the Corporation Counsel declined comment on the case, citing pending litigation.
