Two Honolulu Police Department Officers Charged With Federal Civil Rights Offenses

Two Honolulu Police Department officers were arrested today and charged in federal court with civil rights violations.

John Rabago, 43, and Reginald Ramones, 43, were charged in an indictment unsealed today with one count of conspiring to deprive a person of his civil rights, and one count of acting under color of law to deprive the same individual of his civil rights.  Specifically, the indictment alleges that on Jan. 28, 2018, Officers Rabago and Ramones deprived an individual of his constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable seizure by a law enforcement officer.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.  The indictment carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. 

The case was investigated by the Honolulu Division of the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Tim Visser of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Brady.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marion Percell also participated in the investigation.