Kauai police panel postpones
hearing for suspended chief

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By Anthony Sommer
asommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> The Kauai Police Commission has put off a hearing into charges against suspended police Chief George Freitas for an additional two weeks.

In a meeting notice issued Thursday afternoon, the Police Commission changed the hearing date from Monday to Dec. 28. Freitas informed the commission earlier that he had planned a holiday trip to the mainland and would not attend a hearing if it was conducted as originally scheduled.

Freitas has been on involuntary paid leave since Aug. 10 when the commission voted to investigate allegations made against him by Inspector Melvin Morris, who has since retired, and Lt. Alvin Seto. It was not until Nov. 23 that the commission informed Freitas of the specific charges against him.

The allegation considered the most serious is that he "hindered the prosecution" of a police officer on criminal charges. However, when the full charge was revealed, Freitas was accused of failing to forward a memo from the county prosecutor requesting a re-interview of the officer's wife by police detectives.

The officer involved has since stood trial, and County Prosecutor Michael Soong has refused to accuse Freitas of interfering with the case.

Other charges include yelling at Morris during a meeting (Morris claimed he was so upset that he was forced to take three days of sick leave), hanging up the phone on an officer, using his unmarked police car to shop for a new house and improperly parking his police car.