Honolulu police chief sues city over ethics probes

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HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s embattled police Chief Louis Kealoha and his deputy prosecutor wife, Katherine, are suing the city’s Ethics Commission and two of its former employees over allegations that they conducted illegal investigations.

HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s embattled police Chief Louis Kealoha and his deputy prosecutor wife, Katherine, are suing the city’s Ethics Commission and two of its former employees over allegations that they conducted illegal investigations.

The suit filed Friday says the commission’s former Executive Director Chuck Totto and former investigator Letha DeCaires “conducted a series of unfounded, vindictive, unsubstantiated and illegal investigations” since 2013. It claims the investigations have caused irreparable harm to the city’s police and prosecuting attorney departments, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Totto and DeCaires said they were served with copies of the lawsuit on Monday. Totto declined to comment, and DeCaires said she has not yet reviewed it.

The Kealohas have been the subject of a federal investigation after they were accused of using special police units to investigate relatives while they were involved in a family financial dispute.

Their lawsuit accuses Totto and DeCaires of leaking confidential files to the FBI, which the couple says triggered the federal investigation.

The Kealohas also claim their daughter was assaulted by other students at school and had her property stolen and destroyed after the leaked information became public. The daughter is also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.