More than a year after an alleged police car chase left a 14-year-old boy in need of long-term medical attention, prosecutors have yet to decide whether three Honolulu police officers will be charged or cleared for allegedly causing the single-car crash in Makaha and fleeing the scene.
Dayton Gouveia, who doctors estimate will need health care services totaling some $7 million over the course of his life, is continuing to battle city attorneys in court. Four other passengers in the car sustained injuries in the early- morning crash and are also suing, along with the driver, Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati, who suffered brain damage.
In all, three separate civil complaints have been filed against the city, the Honolulu Police Department and the three officers: Joshua Nahulu, Jake Bartolome and Erik Smith, all District 8 patrol officers at the time of the crash.
HPD’s Professional Standards Office forwarded the findings of its criminal investigation to the city’s Department of the Prosecuting Attorney in November.
In a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Matthew Dvonch, special counsel to the prosecuting attorney, said, “This is a complex case and the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office is performing its own independent criminal investigation into the incident.” He added, “We have experienced and dedicated prosecutors and investigators assigned to the matter who are doing everything they can to make sure that the investigation is as comprehensive as possible.”
Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, prosecutors declined further comment. An administrative probe by police is ongoing.
The chase reportedly began shortly after 3 a.m. Sept. 12, 2021, after the three officers broke up a party at Maili Beach Park and then followed the Honda sedan Perkins- Sinapati was driving. Nahulu, driving a subsidized police vehicle, led Smith and Bartolome, who were driving blue-and-white marked patrol cars, on the pursuit.
None of the officers turned on their lights, sirens or directed Perkins-Sinapati to stop driving before bumping the bumper of the Honda. The car then crashed, totaled the vehicle and ejecting the occupants, according to court documents and attorneys for the plaintiffs. Gouveia’s attorney, Eric Seitz, has said Nahulu had an ongoing feud with Sinapati, which apparently prompted the car chase.
The officers allegedly fled the scene without helping the crash victims. And when a 911 dispatcher sent them to the scene, the officers feigned having no knowledge of the crash, and witnesses viewed the officers’ conduct as a ruse, attorneys for the injured parties maintain.
In responses filed to Gouveia’s lawsuit, the city has alleged that Perkins-Sinapati is to blame for the crash. The city and attorneys for the crash victim are scheduled to enter mediation with all parties in November.
Meanwhile, the Honolulu Police Commission last week awarded city-funded legal counsel to Smith and Bartolome to cover the costs of defending the officers against civil actions.
“The Police Commission is highly troubled with the allegations in this matter,” the panel’s chair, Shannon L. Alivado, said in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “The law requires the city to provide counsel for acts done in the performance of the officer’s duty as a police officer. The officers here were on duty, in uniform, and driving a marked police vehicle. Even the plaintiffs allege the officers were on duty and acting in the course and scope of their employment with HPD.”
In a statement to the Star-Advertiser, Renee R. Sonobe Hong, first deputy corporation counsel at Honolulu Hale, said the Police Commission is tasked with addressing only the issue of whether an officer is afforded legal representation. “There is no assessment of truth or falsity of the allegations,” Sonobe Hong said. The commission “does not make any assessment of liability or culpability, nor does it render any conclusion on the merits of the complaint.”
Contested case hearings were held for Bartolome and Smith in connection with one of the lawsuits, and the commission rendered its decisions after the hearings. Other requests for legal counsel are pending, Alivado said.
Seitz said, “The fact that the Police Commission gave them lawyers and said that … the police officers were acting in the scope of their duties is helpful to us. It means the city is liable for their conduct.” Further, he said, “I don’t think the city is going to dispute that these officers acted atrociously within the scope of their duty.”
Seitz said Gouveia, who was paralyzed for months following the crash, still requires daily medical attention but has been able to go back to school. He battles depression and has permanent nerve damage and injuries to his neck and back that have led to challenges tied to mobility, balance and problems with internal functions.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” said Seitz. “”My hope is that we can settle this. I don’t think there is any possible way the city can avoid liability irrespective of what happens to the individual officers (in the criminal case).”
Michael Stern, an attorney for three of the injured people, who ranged in age from 16 to 20 at the time of the crash, told the Star- Advertiser his clients’ lives have been upended in ways “beyond all of their physical injuries.”
Stern said, “All of their lives have been totally turned upside down. … They are afraid of cars, they are afraid of the police and they have severe PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).” He added, “It’s all due to the police doing this. … I have no idea why they would want to cause this accident and leave the scene. … It’s beyond negligence.”
