Federal authorities charged a former police officer with extorting hostess bar owners and selling stolen vehicles while employed by the Honolulu Police Department.

Roddy Tsunezumi and Jeremy Javillo were named in a charging document filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Tsunezumi was an HPD officer with the department’s Traffic Division when he "separated" in April after nine years of service, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Yu could not say whether Tsunezumi left on his own or was terminated. She said she could not comment any further because of the ongoing federal case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sorenson said authorities were chagrined to find a police officer who "takes advantage of the situation to line his pockets."

"Basically what we have is a criminal partnership between Jeremy Javillo, who has a criminal history, and a Honolulu Police Department officer," he said.

According to court documents, the two men tried to extort $15,000 from two owners of a Honolulu hostess bar between June and October 2013.

The scheme began when a person named "Lino" told the owners that they were the subject of a kidnapping and robbery plot to intimidate them into handing over cash.

Sorenson said Lino’s story appeared to be legitimate, and the two owners, who knew Tsunezumi, approached him for help.

"It looks like it was a crime of opportunity," Sorenson said. "These people were already afraid."

According to court documents, Tsunezumi told the owners not to go to the police because they could only assist after something bad happened. 

Tsunezumi warned the owners that the criminals "want all your stuff, from what I heard," and suggested they hire Javillo who could provide protection service for $15,000.

Javillo then bought a disposable phone and sent threatening text messages to one of the owners as if he was the criminal from the original plot, the documents said.

Besides the extortion scheme, Tsunezumi and Javillo were involved in a two-year scheme to sell stolen vehicles with altered vehicle identification numbers, the documents said.

From August 2011 to October 2013, Tsunezumi would buy salvaged vehicles at auctions or online and give the vehicles’ VIN plates to Javillo, who would then steal a similar vehicle and install the VIN plates onto the stolen vehicles.

Tsunezumi would sell the stolen vehicles and divide the profits with Javillo, the documents said.

Tsunezumi sold one stolen vehicle, a 2000 Toyota 4Runner with altered VIN plates, to an HPD officer for $3,000 in 2011, well below the vehicle’s market value, the documents said.

Sorenson declined to say how authorities learned of the schemes.