The family of a 30-year-old man who was shot and killed by plainclothes police officers at a gas station in Kapolei in 2019 is suing the Honolulu Police Department for negligence and wrongful death.
A complaint against the city and HPD was filed Tuesday in Circuit Court by Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz on behalf of Raynette Kahalehoe, the mother of Michael Kahalehoe, who was shot and killed Nov. 12, 2019, after five HPD officers allegedly identified a blue sedan he was driving as matching the description of one that had been reported stolen several days earlier, according to the complaint.
The officers surrounded Kahalehoe’s vehicle and started firing without provocation or justification, according to the complaint. A search after the shooting revealed Kahalehoe had a handgun tucked into his waistband. He never brandished it or threatened to use it, Seitz told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The officers fired more than 20 rounds and hit Kahalehoe at least a dozen times.
Referring to Kahalehoe’s family, Seitz said, “They don’t think he deserved to die, they don’t think he deserved to be shot — and from what I’ve seen so far, I agree with them.”
Interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic did not reply to a Star-Advertiser request for an interview about the allegations. Michelle Yu, HPD’s spokeswoman, said the department will work with the city’s Corporation Counsel to address the allegations. She noted that all shootings involving officers are reviewed by HPD, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Law Enforcement Officer Independent Review Board.
Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm’s office, which received reports from HPD about this case in May, is reviewing the matter and considering whether to bring charges against the officers in connection with the shooting, said Matthew Dvonch, special counsel to the prosecuting attorney, in a statement.
On the night he was killed, Kahalehoe was driving the sedan when the officers started following him, suspecting that the vehicle had been stolen, according to the complaint. All five officers were driving unmarked police vehicles, and Kahalehoe did not know they were police officers, according to the complaint.
At about 10:30 p.m., at the gas station, a passenger in the vehicle driven by Kahalehoe, Melvin Spillner, got out to pump gas. The plainclothes officers then surrounded the car and drew their weapons, according to the complaint. The officers did not identify themselves, nor did they call for backup from uniformed patrol officers, according to the complaint.
Kahalehoe then started the car, according to court documents. In response, the officers opened fire without any verbal warning or justification for the use of lethal force, according to the complaint.
The officers “did not employ any conflict de-escalation or intervention techniques, did not wait for any backup officers to arrive in uniform driving marked police vehicles, and did not have or use any intermediate-force weapons before resorting to deadly force,” the complaint said.
When Kahalehoe was struck by bullets, the vehicle’s clutch apparently released, causing the car to “lurch” forward, and officers continued firing.
Following the shooting, former Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard told the media that Kahalehoe had been wanted in connection with a rash of armed robberies and possible carjackings. Kahalehoe had 17 convictions, including six felony convictions for vehicle break-ins, vehicle theft, drugs and weapon violations, according to police and court records.
Ballard said Kahalehoe died at the scene, and Spillner, 24, tried to run away but was captured and later treated for minor injuries.
The plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles, Ballard said, were from HPD’s Special Enforcement Detail and Crime Reduction Unit. When they spotted the vehicle that Kahalehoe was driving, they followed it into the Shell station at 577 Farrington Highway.
Ballard said Kahalehoe drove “back and forth in an attempt to leave the gas station” and struck a police vehicle while “grazing” one of the officers. “Fearing for their own lives and that of their fellow officers,” five officers began firing, she said. Seitz has disputed that account.
