LIHUE — A farmer is suing the Kauai Police Department and one of its officers, who, according to a lawsuit, placed the man in handcuffs and knocked him to the ground, fracturing his spine and causing nerve damage.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu arose from an incident on the evening of Jan. 30, 2018, when Roy Gal was fighting with a bunch of pigs.
Gal lives on a farm in a secluded, rural area of the island, where, according to his civil complaint, he “had serious issues” with feral pigs eating his crops, baby goats and sheep. In order to eradicate the animals, Gal got a permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and often stayed up at night to keep the pigs away from his livestock.
“On this night, just like many other nights around this time of year when there are a lot of baby farm animals, Mr. Gal stayed up and waited to see if there were any pigs threatening his herds,” the lawsuit says.
At around 9:45 p.m., a group of pigs came to his farm. He fired at the group twice, and when one of the pigs charged him, he pulled out his handgun and shot at it several times. The pigs weren’t done and neither was the farmer.
“Mr. Gal again got attacked by a pig,” and again he fired around four rapid shots, the complaint says. After the second pig attack, Gal was too afraid to try to find them in the dark and gave up for the night.
Ten minutes later, Kauai police officers arrived at the property, pushed through the gate and approached the residence, where Gal came out to greet them “with the true belief that they would just ask him if he had fired shots, check his paperwork and leave,” according to the suit.
Gal had his pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants, so when one of the officers asked if he had a gun on him, he responded, “always.”
That’s when police then took Gal to the ground and placed him in handcuffs, a tactic that was entirely unnecessary, according to the complaint, which says the officers “could have and should have simply and politely” asked him to turn over the weapon.
“KPD police officers could have easily just put Mr. Gal’s hands behind his back and handcuffed him,” the lawsuit says, “and even that was not necessary,” because he was neither verbally or physically hostile or aggressive.
While he was on the ground, Gal spoke with the police for a few minutes, and the conversation became contentious, according to the suit, when Gal insisted that he had the right to be armed on his own land.
The complaint says one of the officers aggressively stood Gal up and forcefully walked him outside the gate to his property, where he forced him to take a couple steps backward and “purposely tripped him with his left foot,” pushing Mr. Gal to the ground.
Gal, still handcuffed, had no ability to break his fall, and when he hit the ground, the complaint says he “felt a terrible sharp burning” in his lower back, rib cage and neck. The officers checked Gal’s gun permits and animal-eradication permit, took his cuffs off, returned his belongings and left.
Gal was not arrested or charged with anything, but his lawsuit alleges he suffered serious physical and emotional damages during the altercation with police.
In the complaint, Gal lists numerous, permanent injuries caused by the incident, including a fractured spine in multiple locations and nerve damage resulting in randomly tearing in the eyes, erectile dysfunction and “random, no-reason sweating, tingling feet,” leaving him in “constant, severe pain.”
According to the lawsuit, Gal’s injuries have left him unable to enjoy his regular activities, like farming, hunting, fishing, running, soccer, fixing his tractor and truck, tending to his animals, working a chain saw, picking up his kids, and “having normal sexual relationship with his wife.”
A spokesperson for the police department declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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Caleb Loehrer, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or cloehrer@thegardenisland.com.
