Hawaii ex-cop who forced homeless man to lick public urinal while holding him down handed 4-year sentence
HONOLULU, HAWAII: On Wednesday, July 15, a former Honolulu police officer was sentenced to four years in federal prison for forcing a homeless man to lick a public urinal.
While handing down the verdict for an incident that happened in 2018, John Rabago, 44, was condemned by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi for rendering the victim defenseless and powerless, just like children. Kobayashi told the defendant to imagine what he would feel like if someone treated his 10-year-old and eight-year-old daughters in the same manner. "You took from him his only possession: his dignity as a human being," Kobayashi said, ABC News reported.
She reminded him that he had taken an oath as a police officer to protect and defend but ended up taking advantage of someone poor and homeless. Robago pleaded guilty to violating the homeless man's civil rights ahead of sentencing and also resigned from his position. Sam Ingall, a 37-year-old man, filed a lawsuit against the Honolulu Police Department and the city after the traumatic experience.
It all went down when Rabago and another officer had responded to a nuisance complaint only to find Ingall in a stall in a public restroom. According to the judge, the defendant threatened to beat the man and stuff his face in a toilet if he didn't lick the urinal. Next, he grabbed the man's shoulders, forcefully holding him down and stepped on his legs to keep him on his knees till he complied. Meanwhile, his partner stood in the doorway not interfering will Rabago's actions. He did proceed to close the bathroom door so that he and Rabago wouldn't be caught on surveillance cameras, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit further stated that Rabago laughed as he told his fellow officers what he did after following Ingall out of the public restroom. Reginald Ramones, the other officer, who also left the department following the incident, was ordered by Robago to delete text messages about the incident to cover it up. The incident came to light after an officer, who was at the scene and left after being disgusted by his colleagues' actions, reported it to his superiors. Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said the incident "cast a dark shadow on the department."
The judge said: "I’m here to judge you on the worst thing you’ve done in your life,” adding, however, that Robago should not let the act define his future. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brady said Rabago had sometimes been a good officer but called him out for initially denying that the incident ever happened. “To be homeless, not knowing where your next meal is going to be, to be forced to lick ... a dirty urinal by a uniformed police officer. There’s only one word that comes to mind: hopelessness," Brady said.
Rabago offered his apologies to the victim and his family. “Two years ago I made a decision I'm not proud of," he said. “My actions changed the course of life for all of us.” Meanwhile, Ingall did not expect to get a fair punishment for the man who wronged him. “He’s pleasantly surprised that the court punished him appropriately,” his lawyer, Myles Breiner, said. “He was under the impression that they would coddle him and give him a minimum term, a very low sentence.”