Honolulu officials protected a county fire battalion chief after he was accused of raping a fellow fire department employee in his office in 2025, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by a woman identified only as “Jane Doe.” 

The lawsuit accuses Battalion Chief Blake Takahashi of locking a coworker in his office at the Honolulu Fire Department headquarters, pinning her down and raping her while she cried and told him “no.” Takahashi denies the allegations, according to a statement from his attorney, Thomas Otake. 

Takahashi is a 25-year veteran of the department who was the city’s manager of the year in 2024. But Doe’s lawsuit claims he had a history of inappropriate sexual relationships with female colleagues. 

“Chief Takahashi will not be intimidated by these false allegations or an attempt to profit from them through litigation,” Otake said. “He intends to vigorously defend this lawsuit and looks forward to establishing the truth at trial.”

The lawsuit alleges Honolulu fire officials knew about inappropriate relationships Takahashi had with women in the department and ignored it. The city created a workplace culture that emboldened Takahashi to “commit acts of impropriety,” including sexual violence, the complaint says.

The complaint also says the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against Takahashi in order to protect a fellow county employee and shield the city from liability. 

Spokespeople for the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, City and County of Honolulu and Honolulu Fire Department, declined to comment.

Otake called the suggestion that prosecutors declined to file charges to protect Takahashi, “baseless, irresponsible, and a desperate attempt to shift attention away from the evidence.”

“An independent and thorough investigation, which included a comprehensive review and analysis of video evidence, concluded that the complainant’s after-the-fact allegations were not supported by the evidence and would not withstand scrutiny in a criminal proceeding,” he said. 

But one of Doe’s attorneys, Nicole Kalakau, said the facts of the case should have been presented to a grand jury or turned over to the Attorney General’s Office for an independent investigation. 

“There are procedures in place for this,” she said. “I think in 2026, believing a survivor is important.” 

Doe, who the lawsuit says suffered physical injury as well as severe psychological trauma, is seeking unspecified damages for medical expenses, loss of earnings and emotional distress. 

‘Tears Of Pain And Fear’ 

On the evening of Valentine’s Day 2025, Takahashi asked Doe to stop by his office to discuss work matters, according to the complaint, and he encouraged her to drink alcohol with him while they talked. 

He then made sexual advances, the lawsuit says. She alleges she pulled away and told him “no.”

He locked the door to his office, physically restrained her and forcibly raped her “while she cried tears of pain and fear,” the lawsuit says. 

Afterwards, he told Doe not to tell anyone and threatened to rape her again “whenever and wherever he wanted to do it,” the complaint says. 

Doe served as a facilities project coordinator for the department and Takahashi was her superior. As battalion chief, Takahashi ranked just below the level of assistant chief.

Takahashi turned himself in to the Honolulu Police Department six days after the alleged rape, according to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser article from the time. Police released him later that day pending investigation, and the fire department placed him on paid leave pending an investigation. 

Doe filed an application for a temporary restraining order with the Honolulu First Circuit court on Feb. 21, 2025. In the application, she said she reported the rape to the Honolulu Police Department. 

“I am scared that he will do it again or physically harm me,” she wrote. 

A judge granted the temporary restraining order. 

Takahashi was never charged with a crime and the HFD did not respond a question about whether he is still on paid leave or has returned to duty.

Doe’s lawsuit accuses the prosecutor’s office of declining to charge Takahashi to “protect its own management and insulate itself from liability.” Both Takahashi and Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm work for the City and County of Honolulu. 

The prosecutor’s office also chose not to pass the case on to the Attorney General’s Office, the lawsuit says. 

The Honolulu Police Department did not immediately respond to questions about its role in investigating the alleged rape and whether it referred the case to Alm’s office. 

Doe’s attorney, Kalakau, commended Doe’s bravery in filing the lawsuit. She said Doe has been the subject of hateful comments online that place blame on her or place doubt her credibility. 

“It’s extremely psychologically damaging,” she said. 

Since the prosecutors took away her client’s ability to seek justice through the criminal courts, filing the civil action is her only remaining recourse, Kalakau said. She wants to hold Honolulu officials accountable and also help change what Kalakau described as a “culture problem” at the fire department. 

“The fact that he could do these things, and so far, their response has condoned them,” she said. “And in the prosecutor’s case, the message is, ‘We don’t believe you.’”