Posted at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, August 9, 2001

Suit settled in police shooting

Advertiser Staff

A tentative settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a Hale'iwa man who was fatally shot by a police officer in 1998.

Fortunato Barques III was shot near a heiau at Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore May 5, 1998. Police had been investigating thefts from autos in the area and Barques was seen walking between parked cars.

Officer Mark Boyce ordered Barques to stop, but the 37-year-old man refused and jumped over a barbed wire fence. Boyce said he saw what he believed was a holstered gun on Barques and thought he was about to draw the weapon.

Barques was shot twice and died two months later.

No criminal charges were filed against Boyce, but Barques' family filed a federal lawsuit against Boyce and the city in February 2000, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

The trial was set to begin this week, but a tentative settlement was reached yesterday. Family attorney Paul Saccoccio said he could not disclose the amount of the settlement, but said the family is satisfied.

"In these types of cases there's always attempts to settle it because nobody really wants to relive the situation," Saccoccio said. "But I think there's some measure of justice. Of course you can't replace a life, but you try to arrive at some closure. I think we came close to that."

Saccoccio said the City Council will meet in executive session Sept. 12 to discuss the settlement. If the full council does not approve the settlement, the case will go back to trial Feb. 5, he said.