Honolulu could pay up to $1 million to settle with the family of Iremamber Sykap, a 16-year-old teenager who was fatally shot by Honolulu police in 2021 after a high-speed pursuit.

A City Council committee voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of settling, although Council Chair Tommy Waters said he believed the officers were acting within the scope of their duties.

Waters said if the civil case were to go to trial, the police officers — who had previously faced criminal charges — would not be able to testify and defend themselves because anything they said in court could be used against them if prosecutors decided to refile charges. There is no statute of limitations on murder, he said, and the officers could be recharged at any point. 

“It’s unfortunate that we have to settle this case,” he said. “I’m going to vote yes but with reservations.”

The settlement — including the final amount — still needs to be approved by the full nine-member City Council, which meets next on Dec. 3.

The pursuit began on the afternoon of April 5, 2021, after police responded to a report of a stolen Honda at Kawaikui Beach Park in East Honolulu.

Three officers in two separate patrol cars began chasing Sykap and five other young people in the Honda into Waikīkī. Sykap, who was driving, did not stop the car despite multiple demands from police to pull over.

Just after 5 p.m., the Honda stopped at the intersection of Kalākaua Avenue and Philip Street. One patrol car stopped on the driver’s side and another stopped in front to block the Honda’s path.

One officer, Christopher Fredeluces, went to the driver’s side, pointed his gun and commanded the occupants to exit the vehicle. Another, Zackary Ah Nee, ran to the passenger’s side door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He also drew his gun and banged on the window with his hand.

At that point, Officer Geoffrey Thom, who was standing behind the Honda, began firing into the rear window. He fired 10 rounds, eight of which struck Sykap, according to court records.

Fredeluces fired a single round into the driver’s side door but did not strike Sykap.

The car began moving forward, hitting Ah Nee’s patrol vehicle before running onto a sidewalk and toward the canal. Ah Nee fired four shots, striking Sykap’s brother, Mark Sykap, who was in the passenger seat, in his shoulder and hand.

Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm initially charged Thomas with murder and Fredeluces and Ah Nee each with attempted murder.

The criminal complaint said the officers’ use of force was “unnecessary, unreasonable and unjustified under the law.”

Alm filed charges even though a grand jury had declined to indict the officers days before.

Two months later, after days of preliminary hearings, a judge threw out the officers’ cases, saying it was unreasonable for prosecutors to argue the officers were not in danger when they shot Sykap.

Civil Suit: Teen Was ‘Unarmed And Posed No Risk’

Sykap’s grandmother and mother sued the city and police department, alleging wrongful death and negligence.

The lawsuit cites the Honolulu Police Department’s use of force policy, which prohibits officers from firing into a vehicle unless the driver is threatening someone with deadly force by means other than the vehicle itself or if other circumstances warrant the officers using deadly force.

Sykap was “unarmed and posed no risk of harm to any of the Defendants,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also says city officials made “false and misleading statements” and “taunted and threatened” Sykap’s family.

After the shooting, officers wrote statements in their reports describing events that were later contradicted by body camera footage.

For example, Thom wrote he shot into the Honda to protect himself after the vehicle rammed his patrol car. Then-Honolulu police Chief Susan Ballard repeated that assertion at a press conference after the shooting.

Body camera footage, however, did not show the Honda ramming a police vehicle, and Thom’s patrol car had only “a few minor paint chips and some black scuffmarks,” the criminal complaint says.

The police department also refused to release body camera footage of the shooting, citing a state law that precludes the release of information involving juvenile criminal cases. A judge later ordered the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office to release the footage after the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, now called Public First Law Center, sued the office.

The lawsuit says Sykap’s family has suffered “great mental anguish, suffering, pain and anger due to the loss of their young son, grandson, and brother.”