(BIVN) – The Hawaiʻi Police Department has released the body worn camera footage of the officer involved shooting that left a theft suspect dead in Ocean View.
31-year-old Nafetelai Teisina of Ocean View was shot and killed during at the conclusion of a police foot-pursuit over a lava field in Ocean View on Wednesday, October 7th.
Police were attempting to contact Teisina who was identified as the suspect in a theft by a woman in a shopping center parking lot in the 92-8700 block of Māmalahoa Highway. Teisina was accused of taking a pair of sun glasses. Teisina fled the area on foot heading south on Prince Kuhio Boulevard, where he ran into a nearby area of dense brush and unstable lava rock.
Footage of the incident from the officer’s body worn camera shows the officer following Teisina, who was with two dogs, through brush and over rocky terrain.
In the video provided to media, Teisina’s face has been digitally obscured by the police department. Text was also added to the video, providing a transcript of what was said between the officer and Teisina.
In the video, the officer can be seen and heard giving verbal commands to Teisina, before deploying his taser multiple times. The taser was ineffective.
In the video, Teisina can be seen throwing rocks at the officer, which led to the officer firing his service weapon. Teisina is then seen bleeding, before the body worn camera is discarded by the officer. The camera falls to the ground and comes to rest in the lava rocks, where it continued to record the sounds of the incident.
An autopsy was conducted Friday on Teisina, police say. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy determined that Teisina died from a single shot wound. The official report is awaiting toxicology results.
“The investigation into this incident remains active and ongoing,” a Friday news release stated. “The Hawai‘i Police Department Office of Professional Standards has initiated a critical incident review as is standard practice in officer-involved shootings. The officer who fired his firearm has been placed on administrative leave until he is medically cleared to return to work.”
Police ask anyone who may have witnessed or may have any information about the incident to please call the department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.
