HPD cellblock food fund theft investigation widens

By Johnny Brannon and Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writers

A Honolulu Police Department food service worker will soon be charged and others in the department may also face criminal charges as an investigation continues into misuse of money meant to buy food for police cellblock prisoners, a deputy prosecutor said yesterday.

Assistant Police Chief Rafael Fajardo Jr., left, and Maj. Jeffrey Owens are accused of taking money earmarked for inmates' food and using it to buy steaks and other pricey foods for police officers.

The indicted officers allegedly used money from the prisoners' food fund to purchase high-quality items such as steaks, turkey and lamb that were fed to police officers. The thefts spanned from 1995 to September 2000.

Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue acknowledged Thursday that he, former Chief Michael Nakamura and others had eaten the food, but said he had no idea it had been obtained improperly. He declined to say where he thought the food had come from, citing the ongoing investigation.

The indicted officers, Assistant Police Chief Rafael Fajardo Jr. and Major Jeffrey Owens, surrendered to police and were released without bail. Donohue has stripped them of their police powers and command responsibilities while the case is pending.

Owens is scheduled to be arraigned in Circuit Court on Monday, and Fajardo on Thursday.

Fajardo's attorney, Howard Luke, said Fajardo would plead not guilty but declined further comment. Owens' attorney, Darwin Ching, declined to comment.

Lee said one of two food service workers arrested for theft in May would definitely not be charged in the case. The second worker will be charged soon, he said.

Nakamura, who left the police chief's position in 1997, yesterday acknowledged eating catered meals — a lunch and two breakfasts — between 1995 and 1997, but said he believed the food was legitimately paid for by Fajardo, at the time the cellblock commander who routinely dished out tasty spreads to improve morale.

"I'm not saying those meals came from cellblock money," Nakamura continued. "I don't think anybody could say that unless they went back and backtracked all the (purchase orders) back to 1995. ... I don't know what happened."

Nakamura said Fajardo was known to orchestrate police food spreads with another man who owned a restaurant in Iwilei.

"A lot of time when (Fajardo) went to the receiving desk, as far as bringing food, he did it because he wanted to improve the morale of the troops there," Nakamura said.

Nakamura said he remembered the meals sitting in "professional" metal heating pans with sternos underneath. He remembered breakfast as scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, rice, possibly bacon, and some other meats. The food was not something that would be served to prisoners, he said.

Nakamura said prisoners were served food that could be re-heated or take-out food.

The former chief said someone in the department should have raised the "red flag" earlier about problems within the cellblock if the purchase orders showed they were for high-priced meals.

But Nakamura said he credited Donohue with ordering the internal investigation after he was made aware of the alleged theft. Fajardo and Donohue are close friends and worked together in the Pearl City district when Donohue was a major and Fajardo was a captain, Nakamura said.

"(Donohue) had to launch this investigation because (retired Maj.) Gordon Young made a complaint," Nakamura said.

The former chief said he didn't think he was under investigation, but said he had been interviewed by Donohue's lead investigator in the case.

"The department can overcome this, sure," Nakamura said. "They have overcome a lot of other things, negative publicity. It doesn't help morale, but the department is bigger that just the individuals involved in this case."

Leonard Leong, the chairman of the Honolulu Police Commission, yesterday said he plans to recommend additional internal safeguards with the Honolulu Police Department's finances in their next meeting.

Leong said the seven-member police commission plans to talk with Donohue at their September meeting, and he wanted to request additional "checks and balances" on the department's budget, such as additional signatures on purchase orders.

The commission chairman said he hoped the indictments of Fajardo and Owens would not shake public confidence in the department.

"I think the public should maintain its confidence. The force is composed of 2,000 people. Any such large group is bound to have a few that shouldn't belong to the group. They should either be asked, or forced to leave if they behave improperly," he said.

Indictments against top-ranking police officers are rare in the United States, according to David Johnson, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa assistant professor of sociology who specializes in issues of police misconduct.

Johnson said questions should be asked about why the scam was able to continue as long as it did, and why the accused officers were able to remain in their positions during the lengthy investigation.

"Who is guarding the guardians?" Johnson said. "How is it that this was able to go on for several years?"

Advertiser staff writers Karen Blakeman and David Waite contributed to this report.