Warrior’s kin claims
cop beating in VegasA UH football player's stepfather
was arrested at the game at UNLV
The family of University of Hawaii football player Chad Owens plans to pursue legal action against Las Vegas police for allegedly beating Owens' stepfather and falsely arresting him while he attended the UH football game against Nevada-Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium last Friday night.
Faalata Satele, the father of UH offensive lineman Samson Satele, said his wife, Norine, has videotape proving the alleged roughing up of Owens' stepfather, James Voss, by police was unprovoked and excessive.
The game, which UNLV won 33-22, was marred by dozens of fights between Hawaii and UNLV supporters.
Voss, 38, of Honolulu, said he was charged with battery on a police officer and inciting a riot. Voss said he did neither, and that he should not have been arrested and charged and taken to jail. He and witnesses said Las Vegas police held him in a chokehold after he was handcuffed and Voss said one officer later threatened to kill him.
"When I was being detained one of them said he would shoot me right between the eyes the next time he saw me," Voss said. "They wouldn't let me bail out."
Voss said he did not throw any blows at anyone.
"They used unreasonable force," said Faatala Satele, who said he did not know Voss but was seated near him. "They had him cuffed and they were still chokeholding him. And he did nothing to deserve getting arrested. Lots of people saw that."
Voss and Owens and several other family members returned to Hawaii on Sunday night after Voss was released Sunday morning.
"They kept me in there 29 hours and made it difficult to post bail," Voss said.
Voss, who said he was never arrested before, has a court date in Las Vegas on Oct. 13. The family plans to secure legal representation today.
Calls from the Star-Bulletin to the Las Vegas and UNLV police departments since Saturday were referred to UNLV spokesman Tom Flagg, who was not available until Monday.
Voss was one of three people arrested among a group that was detained, according to Flagg.
The other arrestees appeared to be area residents, according to witnesses. One was arrested for hitting a policeman's horse and another for outstanding felony warrants. "At least eight" people were also ejected from the stadium, according to police reports, Flagg said.
One person was taken to a hospital "unconscious with head trauma," Flagg said. He said he did not know the person's condition or name yesterday.
In another matter, Owens, a starting slot receiver, has been suspended for the next two games for "conduct detrimental to the team" by coach June Jones.
Owens' suspension is for missing the team's charter flight back to Hawaii from Las Vegas on Friday after the game without prior permission, Owens said.
Owens said he did not miss the charter because of his stepfather's difficulties with the police. Owens said he had planned several months prior to spend the weekend with his family in Las Vegas, but did not inform Jones.
Players who miss team charter flights are required to sign waiver forms, which Owens failed to do. (See Sports).
As for his stepfather's situation, Owens said he thinks Voss was treated unfairly.
"This is far from over," he said. "It's just not right. We were going to have a nice family get-together and he ends up in jail for something he didn't do.
"They've got to do something to get that situation under control," Owens said of the fighting throughout the stadium.
When he heard what happened after the game, Owens said he feared for the safety of his girlfriend, 4-month-old son, mother, and brothers, 7 and 9. He said Voss is a peaceful man.
Voss said a UNLV fan taunted him throughout the game and continually challenged him to fight. During the third quarter, Voss "had enough" and started to approach the man. He said he returned to his seat when his wife, Charmaine, told him to forget about it. Voss said about a minute later a policeman came up to him and said, "You want a piece of me?" and attacked him.
Several other police surrounded Voss and hit and choked him, Charmaine Voss said.
He said he had three beers during the game (none before), and was not drunk. Voss, who was wearing a Warriors' jersey with Owens' name and number on it, said he was cheering for good Hawaii plays but was not making negative comments about UNLV.
Voss' confrontation with police was just one of many during and after the game, which was attended by 34,287 fans, including an estimated 10,000 rooting for Hawaii.
Hawaii Athletic Director Herman Frazier said he had placed a call to UNLV Athletic Director Mike Hamrick to discuss the fighting and security issues of the game.
Hamrick did not return two calls placed by the Star-Bulletin yesterday. He was quoted in a Las Vegas Sun article on the subject.
"When I come in Monday morning, I make a list of issues that need to be addressed," Hamrick said. "This week, stadium security is the No. 1 on my list."
Hamrick told the Sun he will meet with Sam Boyd Stadium and campus police to discuss options.
Alex Aurio of Honolulu said he was briefly detained after he was pointed out by UNLV fans to police.
"I think they just chose me because of my appearance," said Aurio, who has several tattoos and piercings. "They said, 'Get the black guy with the shell!' "
Aurio, who wore a malo and blew a conch shell in support of UH during the game, said he was not involved in any fighting.
"There are occasional fights at (UNLV) games," Flagg said. "Some people are ejected and some are detained. If it can't be determined exactly what happened, they aren't arrested. They only arrest them when it is clear what happened."
