Assault Charges Filed Against Honolulu Police Officer
The Hawaii Attorney General’s Office announced the charges Friday against HPD Officer Siave Seti, who was caught on video slamming a man to the ground in February.
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin has filed a misdemeanor assault charge against Honolulu Police Officer Siave Seti, who was caught on cell phone video slamming a man onto a sidewalk in the Palolo Valley on Feb. 24.
On Friday, Seti, 29, pleaded not guilty in state court to third-degree assault, which is punishable with up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Seti has been with the department for two years, and was placed on desk duty after the incident.
Several Honolulu police officers have gotten into trouble over the past year after their misdeeds were caught on tape.
PF Bentley/Civil Beat
Video surfaced in March showing Seti picking up Eric Musrasrik and throwing him to the ground while bystanders attempted to calm the officer. Seti is also seen on the video trying to take the cell phone away from the person who filmed the incident.
Musrasrik was not arrested at the time. He hired Honolulu attorney Myles Breiner to represent him in a possible lawsuit.
(You can watch the video, which was obtained by Hawaii News Now, here.)
Seti is one of several Honolulu police officers whose alleged misdeeds have been caught on tape recently.
Last October, surveillance video showed Sgt. Darren Cachola taking swings at his girlfriend inside a restaurant, which raised questions about how HPD responds to possible domestic violence cases.
And earlier this summer, three Honolulu police officers — one of them a 77-year-old reservist — pleaded guilty to federal charges for a beating inside a Chinatown game room that was also caught on tape.
There have been several other high profile cases that have cast a shadow over HPD over the past year or so, including one incident in which an officer accidentally shot a bartender while off duty and another in which an officer was accused of groping a teenage girl during a traffic stop.
Police Chief Louis Kealoha faces his own set of problems. He’s currently part of a city ethics probe and possible FBI investigation over his stolen mailbox. He and his wife, a Honolulu prosecutor, have been accused of framing a family member for the theft.
