A California couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging a police officer arrested them while on vacation in Hawaii for public displays of affection.
Courtney Wilson, left, and Taylor Guerrero in Honolulu on Oct. 28.
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher / AP
The Honolulu Police Department said Wednesday it is opening an internal investigation after a lawsuit was filed in court by a same-sex couple who said they were arrested for kissing in a grocery store.
Courtney Wilson, 25, and Taylor Guerrero, 21, who were vacationing in Hawaii from Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday that said Officer Bobby Harrison harassed and arrested them on March 3 for public displays of affection in a Foodland on Oahu.
The lawsuit says the officer was shopping at the grocery store in uniform, when he saw the couple walking through the aisles holding hands, hugging, and kissing, and "in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and 'take it somewhere else.'"
The women continued to shop and at a later point started touching again, when Harrison saw them he threatened to have them thrown out of the store.
As the women were attempting to check out, Harrison approached the couple a third time. When Wilson tried to call 911, the officer grabbed her arm, the couple's attorney Eric Seitz told the Associated Press.
The lawsuit says both women were then thrown to the ground by Harrison.
"I got punched in the face by him. I split my nose open. We were on the ground," Wilson told Hawaii News Now.
"She then kicked the police officer, which apparently enraged him even more," Seitz told the AP. After Harrison was hit by Wilson, he punched her.
Foodland employees were told to hold the women down and they were bound with zip ties, the women alleged.
The two were arrested and charged with felony assault of an officer, but the charges were dismissed five months later.
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher / AP
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, says Harrison acted with hostility because of his hate towards the LGBT community.
The officer has been on the force for 26 years, Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu told the AP, and remains on active duty.
Foodland apologized to the couple for the incident, Seitz said, even though they are not part of the lawsuit.
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