Mother sues HPD
for killing son caught
driving stolen car

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

The mother of a man fatally shot by a police officer in Waikiki 2 1/2 years ago alleges the officer used excessive force when trying to arrest Bernard Crivello, who had been stopped for a traffic offense while driving a stolen car.

Esther Barbadillo, administrator of her son's estate, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit yesterday in Circuit Court against the Honolulu Police Department and other unidentified individuals involved in the Oct. 3, 2000, shooting.

Crivello, 25, was shot once in the head when he backed a stolen sport utility vehicle into a three-wheeled police patrol unit on Tusitala Street.

Officer Phillip Lavarias fired a shot after Crivello allegedly ignored a warning to stop.

Crivello allegedly accelerated forward and back, repeatedly striking the officer's Cushman, pushing it into the street.

Believing the Jeep was coming after him, the officer fired a single shot as he jumped out of harm's way.

The suit contends Lavarias' negligence led to Crivello's death and that the department failed to properly train him.

Last May, the city prosecutor's office announced it would not be seeking criminal charges against Lavarias based on its own analysis and visit to the scene, reports by the Police Department's Internal Affairs and statements by numerous witnesses, including three from a nearby apartment building who were at ground level and corroborated the officer's account.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Crivello was driving was reported stolen Sept. 11 from the Tripler Army Medical Center.