HPD’s Use Of Lethal Force Is Near The US Average. But There’s Far More To The Story … A comparison of HPD’s numbers to a national database show big differences, such as a higher percentage of deaths from physical restraint and the race and ethnicity of those who died.
One day in 2013, Stephen Dinnan ate lunch with his girlfriend and their children at the Ala Moana Center. On the way home to Kaneohe, they stopped in Waimanalo so his girlfriend could check on repairs being made to her truck.
He had just smoked a joint with some friends when a Honolulu police officer appeared. Dinnan didn’t know it, but the officer was investigating the theft of a truck that had been stolen that day from Makapuu Beach Park. The owner, a Honolulu firefighter, and his son had tracked an iPhone the son left in the truck to Waimanalo.
According to a later lawsuit, Dinnan was scared because he had just smoked a joint. He also had methamphetamine in his fanny pack, a report from the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office said. When the officer, Eric Matsumoto, shouted “Haole boy, don’t run,” Dinnan did just that. Matsumoto chased him.
