Thread: Hawaii: Suit filed against ex-officer, county

http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=21505

Suit filed against ex-officer, county
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer
WAILUKU – A woman who reported being solicited for sexual favors during a police traffic stop in Lahaina two years ago is suing former Maui police officer Aaron Won and Maui County.

The lawsuit by Rosa A. Rodriguez Martinez and her husband, Salomon Baltazar Alonso, was filed Thursday in 2nd Circuit Court.

She alleges assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment by Won and negligent supervision and training of the officer by Maui County.

Maui County Deputy Corporation Counsel Moana Lutey said the allegations against the county have no merit.

“The lawsuit against Aaron Won may be appropriate, but it’s shocking to us that she is suing the very people who helped her,” Lutey said Friday. “The Maui Police Department did everything proper, including investigating its own officer and referring the case for prosecution.”

The police investigation began after Won, then a Lahaina patrol officer, stopped Rodriguez Martinez on July 28, 2004, as she drove on Lower Honoapiilani Road in Kahana.

The woman, who at the time was 27 years old and an illegal immigrant living in Honokowai, didn’t speak English and didn’t have a driver’s license or insurance for the car she was driving.

She said Won drove her to the Napili police substation, where he used gestures to try to have her remove her blouse, have sexual intercourse with him and perform oral sex. She said he threatened to arrest her unless she complied.

When she refused, he arrested her for driving without a license, having no insurance and having an expired safety sticker.

Won, then 25 and a police officer for about two years, was suspended without pay and later fired after the woman reported the incident to police.

In June 2005, Won was sentenced to a five-year prison term for attempted second-degree extortion and second-degree unlawful imprisonment of Rodriguez Martinez.

“The only reason Rosa is suing the County of Maui is because we are the deep pocket,” Lutey said. “Despite the fact that she was not touched, she’s seeking damages for pain and suffering, economic earnings.”

Her husband is suing even though he wasn’t present when the incident occurred, Lutey said.

“It’s obvious that the case against the County of Maui has no merit,” she said. “Apparently, she’s learned the American legal system very quickly.”

Wailuku attorneys Michael Tateishi and Glen Pascual are representing Rodriguez and Baltazar in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

Even a state with one of the lowest numbers of llegal aliens has these people. Maui County acted in her favor but that is not enough.

She said he threatened to arrest her unless she complied.

Well just how was he able to gesture this threat I wonder.