Posted on: Friday, August 10, 2001

Tentative deal reached in wrongful death suit

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

Officer Mark Boyce ordered Barques to stop, but the 37-year-old man jumped over a fence. Boyce said he saw what he believed to be a holstered gun, which he thought Barques was about to draw. Barques was shot twice and died two months later.

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

The trial was to begin this week. Family attorney Paul Saccoccio said he could not disclose the amount of the settlement reached yesterday, 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 it, the case will go to trial Feb. 5, he said.