Posted on: Tuesday, October 7, 2003

Indicted officer sues Police Commission

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Honolulu police officer indicted on a felony theft charge for allegedly stealing money from a suspect during a Waikiki drug bust is suing the Honolulu Police Commission for refusing to pay for his lawyer.

David Gierlach, the attorney for Officer Robert Fu, said in a notice filed yesterday in Circuit Court that Fu was taking part in a drug raid at Continental Surf Hotel in August last year and found a shoe box in a closet that contained money.

"Officer Fu went to look for the officer in charge to turn in the currency, but as he did so realized that he needed to urinate," Gierlach said in the court filing.

Fu went into the apartment bathroom holding the cash in his hand and accidentally dropped the money into the toilet and flushed it, causing the money to disappear down the drain, Gierlach said in the papers he filed.

He said Fu later told his supervisors what had happened and cooperated with an internal affairs investigation. Fu was indicted in February and was reassigned to desk duty in August 2002.

The Police Commission made a final decision last Wednesday not to use public money to pay for a lawyer for Fu even though the incident took place in the line of duty, Gierlach said.

The papers Gierlach filed yesterday ask that the commission's decision be reversed and that a finding be made that Fu is entitled to have the city pay for his legal defense.