Three Hawaii police officers were charged Tuesday in connection to the shooting of a 16-year-old, despite a grand jury’s decision not to indict them.
Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steven Alm made the decision to charge Geoffrey Thom, 42, with second-degree murder and officers Zackary Ah Nee, 26, and Christopher Fredeluces, 40, with second-degree attempted murder.
“The evidence supports the conclusion that the defendants’ use of deadly force in this case was unnecessary, unreasonable and unjustified under the law,” prosecutors said in the complaint.
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“We are surprised by the prosecuting attorney’s announcement to see charges against the officers after a grand jury comprised of citizens decided not to indict them,” said interim Honolulu Police Department Chief Rade Vanic. “This is highly unusual, and we are not aware of a similar action having been taken in the past.”
Iremamber Sykap, 16, was driving a stolen Honda on April 5, police have said. The car was linked to an armed robbery, burglary, and purse snatching. Police have declined to release body camera footage of the incident because they say other minors were in the car.
When officers approached the vehicle after a chase, the Honda “rammed” into Thom’s patrol car, according to prosecutors, citing the officer.
“It is not clear whether either car deliberately hit the other car, as opposed to both cars coming in contact just by happenstance. In any event, the contact between the two cars was minor – the patrol car had a few paint nicks – about the size of two quarters – and it had a few black scuffmarks,” prosecutors said in the complaint after reviewing body camera footage of the incident.
Thom fired 10 rounds through the back window of the vehicle “unprovoked,” hitting Sykap in the back of the head after he and his brother Mark Sykap were told to get out of the car, prosecutors said.
Fredeluces fired one round but did not hit Sykap and Ah Nee fired multiple times at Mark Sykap, they added. Mark Sykap sustained injuries in the incident but was not killed.
Thom has stated that the vehicle reversed directly at him. Prosecutors said in the Tuesday complaint that is untrue. Fredeluces said he thought he heard gunshots coming from inside the car, according to prosecutors, but they note, “Before confirming his belief, he fired his 9mm Glock firearm into the driver’s door.”
The vehicle, which they say was in “drive” mode, began moving forward after the first 11 shots from Thom and Fredeluces.
Ah Nee said in his report that he thought he saw the butt of a firearm in the passenger’s lap, according to the complaint, but prosecutors said that was not seen in the body-cam video, adding, “It appears the passenger has a thin square object on his lap, which does not resemble a firearm.”
Prosecutors also said there were no pedestrians in front of the vehicle that could have been in danger at the time of the incident.
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“We continue to trust the process and will continue to stand by our officers,” Malcolm Lutu, the president of the state police officers union, said in a statement.
The three officers will be on desk duty while they await trial. They are scheduled to appear in court on June 25.
