KUNA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal district court by local firm Wrest Collective, focuses on sheriff’s deputies serving as Kuna police officers, according to a press release. It also alleges unreasonable seizure, retaliation and sheriff training deficiencies.
The complaint asks for monetary damages including compensatory and punitive damages, a declaration that the police violated constitutional rights, and attorney’s fees.
Kuna has been contracting with Ada County for law enforcement services since 1998. The Ada County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
“Do Idahoans still have the freedom to watch the police?” the lawsuit said. “When 70-year-old Plaintiff Mick Heikkola peered just for a matter of seconds through the window of one of the police cars Ada County taxpayers pay for — in a public parking lot in broad daylight — he was accosted, attacked, and manhandled by officers, and then handcuffed, arrested, humiliated, and jailed.”
Heikkola had driven to the Kuna Police Station on Jan. 17, 2023, to drop off an expired prescription his pharmacy accidentally filled, the lawsuit said. The station has one of Idaho's official prescription drug disposal locations.
Two police SUVs were parked next to Heikkola, the suit said.
“On his way inside to dispose of his medication, Heikkola took a look at the two police cars. He hadn’t been this close to a police car in decades and was curious what his taxes were paying for,” the lawsuit said.
Then a nondescript white car pulled into the lot and a man in a black jacket, beanie and khaki pants got out and asked Heikkola why he was looking in “our” cars, the suit said.
Heikkola said it was his car too as a taxpayer. The man “shouted” at Heikkola to take his hands out of his pockets, but Heikkola said an expletive and walked into the police station, the suit said. Heikkola talked with the receptionist and deposited his medications into a secure drop box, the suit said.
Uniformed officers then ordered him out of the building and told him to take his hands out of his pockets.
“Heikkola said “no” but showed his hands briefly. In an instant, (officer Justin) Philyaw grabbed Heikkola forcefully,” the lawsuit said. “And then all the officers in front of the station grabbed Heikkola and pinned his arms behind his back before slamming him into metal railings in front of the station.”
Of the six officers the lawsuit said were pinning Heikkola, one was the man from the parking lot, a plainclothes police officer, Brian Keen.
The suit alleges that the officers took Heikkola to the station's interview room and interrogated him, but that none of the officers read Heikkola his Miranda rights.
Heikkola was then taken to jail. The officers provided a report under penalty of perjury to the prosecutor’s office saying Heikkola was read his rights before being questioned, the suit said, but the complaint alleged that this was not true.
Court records show Heikkola was charged with resisting or obstructing officers. The charge was dismissed in August 2023.
“The Court held an evidentiary hearing and concluded that Defendants ‘seized and detained Heikkola without reasonable suspicion,’” the lawsuit said. “The Court found that “Keen did not pursue any additional investigation, explain his reasonings for the contact, or further reveal his identity or employment” to Heikkola.”
The suit names Ada County along with several officers: Keen, Kuna Police Chief Michael Fratusco, Michael Geisel, Justin Philyaw, Jacob Nydegger, Shawn McGrew, Todd Nelson and John/Jane Does 1-5.
“The only person at the Kuna Police Station who was professional and kind and treated Heikkola like a human being that day was the receptionist. She is not being sued,” the lawsuit said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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