The Honolulu officers who fatally shot an armed man after an island-wide chase on New Year’s Day were justified in using deadly force, according to City and County of Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm.
Alm presented his findings Wednesday on the case involving 44-year-old Sidney Tafokitau, who was shot and killed by police 11 months ago on University Avenue in Mānoa.
After going through the timeline of the day’s events, Alm said no charges will be filed against the six officers and one sergeant who shot at and killed Tafokitau.
Over the course of the New Year’s Day police chase, Tafokitau allegedly shot and injured his ex-girlfriend and two police officers, carjacked a bystander, and fired his AR-15-style rifle at other responding officers.
“ Mr. Tafokitau was on a rampage. He tried to kill his ex-girlfriend, and then he put numerous other drivers at risk with his driving around. He had told a relative he was ‘not going back to prison.’ He tried to kill multiple police officers and seriously injured two of them. The police did their job that day,” Alm said.
Tafokitau had been wanted on six counts of attempted murder and firearms offenses, but the New Year’s Day manhunt began in the morning after he allegedly shot and injured his ex-girlfriend.
At around 7:15 a.m. near Aloha Stadium and during an argument with the woman, Tafokitau allegedly rammed into the back of her car and shot her three times. That triggered a police chase that eventually reached Kāneʻohe, Kaimukī and the North Shore before reaching the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa at around 4:15 p.m.
He was shot by Honolulu police on University Avenue. Alm said he was shot 23 times.
“It certainly looks to me like this was suicide by cop, where he is getting out of his Scion, he's got his AR-15, and he's just shooting at all these police cars and police officers that were there in front of him,” Alm said.
Alm said an autopsy found that Tafokitau had alcohol and cocaine in his system.
Alm is still considering charges for other officers involved in the chase who allegedly struck Tevitatonga Cadiente with a police vehicle and beat him.
Cadiente had been walking on University Avenue as the chase involving Tafokitau reached Mānoa. Cadiente had been walking toward the incident, hoping to get Tafokitau to surrender peacefully, according to a lawsuit that Cadiente and his father filed against the city, the police department and the officers.
Police allegedly believed Cadiente was an attempted murder suspect at the time.
“We have gotten the information, but the investigation is not quite done,” Alm said, later adding, “But we'll do it as soon as we can.”
