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Lesbian Couple Files Lawsuit After Hawaii Cop Arrested Them For Kissing
HONOLULU (AP) – The Honolulu Police Department opened an internal investigation Wednesday into allegations that an officer wrongfully arrested a vacationing lesbian couple after seeing them kissing in a grocery store.
Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero, who were visiting Hawaii from Los Angeles, said in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that they were harassed and arrested because the officer didn’t like their public displays of affection in a Foodland store on Oahu’s North Shore.
They were walking through the aisles holding hands and at one point hugged and kissed, the lawsuit said. Officer Bobby Harrison, who was shopping in uniform, “observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and ‘take it somewhere else.'”
The women complied and continued shopping, the lawsuit said. When Harrison again saw them being affectionate with each other, he threatened to have them thrown out of the store.
While the women were in the check-out line, Harrison grabbed Wilson by the wrist, said the couple’s attorney, Eric Seitz. Wilson started to call 911, and Guerrero tried to get in between her girlfriend and the officer, he said.
In the ensuing altercation, Seitz says that Harrison pushed Guerrero. “She then kicked the police officer, which apparently enraged him even more,” Setiz said, adding that Harrison punched Wilson after she hit him in the face.
The women were arrested and charged with felony assault on an officer. They each posted $12,000 bail and had to remain in Honolulu as a condition of their release, Seitz said.
All the charges were eventually withdrawn and dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the case cannot be filed again.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, states that Harrison was motivated by his hostility toward gays. The City and County of Honolulu is also listed as a defendant.
Honolulu Police Department Spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Harrison has been an officer for 26 years and is currently assigned to District 2 in Wahiawa. Yu said the department would not comment on pending litigation.
The civil rights lawsuit is the second to come from the law offices of Eric Seitz in the past week. Seitz filed another lawsuit Oct. 20 against the Honolulu Police Department for the killing of Sheldon Haleck, a 38-year-old man who officers believed to be acting erratically.
Honolulu Civil Beat contributed to this report.
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