State judge rules officer accused of harassment can’t carry firearms

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A state judge has ruled that a Hawaii County police officer who pulled a gun on a Big Island man in a police station parking lot cannot carry firearms.

Det. Justin Gaspar and Jake Kahele-Bishop of Kailua-Kona have traded allegations of harassment after the March 10 police shooting death of Kahele-Bishop’s brother, Kainoa.

Most recently, Kahele-Bishop filed for a temporary restraining order against Gaspar after the detective arrested him and his family at gun point in the parking lot of the Kona Police Station on March 13.

“As a consequence of that restraining order, Officer Gaspar was required to turn in all of his guns. We have yet received confirmation that that actually happened,” said Eric Seitz, attorney for Kahele-Bishop.

“He shouldn’t have even been out there carrying a gun. The guy is unhinged.”

Gaspar recently sought to modify the TRO to allow him to carry a gun, saying he needs his firearm to do his job. But on Monday, District Judge Joseph Florendo Jr. denied the request.

Seitz said the ruling was in large part due to county policy which bars officers from “carrying guns and conducting field duty ... while an investigation is still going on.”

Big Island Police confirmed that Gaspar has surrendered his firearms and is on “limited duty assignment” because he can’t carry a gun.

They added that an administrative review into Kahele-Bishop’s March 13 arrest is pending.

An administrative review into the police shooting death of Kainoa Kahele-Bishop is also pending.

Kainoa Kahele-Bishop was fatally shot by Gaspar and another officer on March 10th. The officers were initially placed on administrative leave but were allowed to return to work 11 days later.

A wrongful death lawsuit against Gaspar, the other officer and the County is pending.

Big Island Police alleged that Jake Kahele-Bishop was arrested three days after his brother’s death after he “threatened and chased” Gaspar who was off duty.

In court filings, county lawyers also alleged that Kahele-Bishop threatened other officers during a previous visit to the police station, saying he was “yelling about killing the police officers that killed his brother.”

Jake Kahele-Bishop was indicted on three counts of terroristic threatening on March 21.

Seitz denied that his client threatened the officers. He said Kahele-Bishop was not following Gaspar on March 13 but was driving to the Kona courthouse with his family when he saw the officer apparently at work.

Seitz said his client was arrested after he drove to the Kona Police Station to complain that Gaspar should have been on administrative leave.

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