Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero say a police officer ‘punched’ and harassed them because he disapproved of their public displays of affection in a store

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Honolulu police department opened an internal investigation this week into allegations that a police officer wrongfully arrested a vacationing lesbian couple after seeing them kissing in a grocery store.

For Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero, a visit to Hawaii from Los Angeles in March quickly became a nightmare on their second day in the state. In a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the women said that they were harassed and arrested because the police officer disapproved of their public displays of affection in a Foodland store on Oahu’s North Shore.



The couple of two years said the officer’s conduct was motivated by discrimination toward homosexual couples.



Wilson, 25, and Guerrero, 22, were walking around the Foodland Pupukea store on March 3, according to the lawsuit. They held hands and at one point stopped, hugged and kissed each other. The lawsuit said officer Bobby Harrison, who was off-duty but shopping in uniform, “observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice ordered plaintiffs to stop and ‘take it somewhere else’”.



The women complied and continued shopping out of view from Harrison. A short time later, Harrison reportedly saw them being affectionate again, and threatened to have them thrown out of the store. He then sought out the store manager and encouraged the manager to issue written trespass warnings to Wilson and Guerrero.



The confrontation between Harrison and the women became violent after the officer directed them to move out of the cashier line in which they were standing after informing them that the store was going to issue them a trespass notice. Wilson called 911 to report Harrison’s harassment.



“He was bumping his belly against Courtney,” Guerrero told the Associated Press. “He said, ‘You girls don’t know how to act. You don’t know the difference between a motel and a grocery store.’”



As Wilson turned to leave the store so she could describe her location, the suit says, Harrison forcefully seized her, preventing her from leaving and completing the 911 call. Guerrero, who tried to intervene, was thrown to the ground by Harrison. In the process, he struck Wilson, according to the lawsuit.



“The whole situation got physical,” Wilson told the AP. “I got punched in the face by him.”



Both were placed in restraints and arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer. Harrison did not have handcuffs on him at the time so store employees helped restrain the women as customers looked on.



“You can’t really blame them for not getting involved,” Wilson said of the bystanders.



Foodland, which is not part of the lawsuit, has apologized to the women, the AP reported. A Foodland spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

A Honolulu police department spokeswoman, Michelle Yu, said an internal investigation was opened on Wednesday to look into possible wrongful arrest.

The couple’s attorney, Eric Seitz, told the Guardian that he asked Foodland for copies of surveillance tapes from the day Wilson and Guerrero were arrested, but was told that the videos could not be located.

“Foodland doesn’t have them,” he said. “They don’t have a record of where they are.”

Harrison, a 26-year veteran on the force, remains on full active duty.



Following their arrest, Wilson and Guerrero were charged with felony assault on an officer. They spent three days in jail and each paid a bail bondsman $1,300 for bail that was set at $12,000 each.



A condition of their release stipulated the women remain in Honolulu as they waited to appear in court. Securing their release cost them all their money, and they spent their time before their court appearance in July by taking on odd jobs and staying with family friends or people they befriended in the city.



Eventually, they were able to save enough money to rent an apartment, Seitz said.

Their case was dismissed in court by the prosecutor.



The lawsuit filed against Harrison and the Honolulu police department alleges that the police officer discriminated against the women because of their sexuality, causing them to suffer physical injuries and emotional distress.



“I really just want an example to be made, despite whatever happens,” Wilson said, appearing before reporters with Guerrero on Wednesday. “I just think what he did was absolutely wrong, without a doubt.”