NICHOLAS Yarolfalchuw, who has sued Police Sgt. John Cabrera, and Police Officer Daniel Fitial in federal court for unlawful arrest, has also filed a complaint against them and the CNMI government in Superior Court.
Attorney Joseph E. Horey, who represents Yarolfalchuw, said the degree of force that Cabrera and Fitial used toward his client was “excessive under the circumstances, including but not limited to the non-severity of the crime at issue, and the absence of any immediate threat to the safety of themselves or others.”
Horey asked the court for an award of damages to be proven at trial, and other relief the court deems to be just and proper.
According to the complaint, Yarolfalchuw resides on a homestead lot in Kagman III.
On or about May 10, 2021, around 5 p.m., Yarolfalchuw was sitting at a pavilion on the premises of his residence and talking with relatives when Sgt. Cabrera arrived at and entered the premises, parking beside the pavilion.
After a short discussion, during which Cabrera questioned Yarolfalchuw about his involvement in an incident of disturbing the peace that had been reported at Tank Beach, Yarolfalchuw advised Cabrera that he was trespassing, and instructed him to depart.
Cabrera did not depart, the complaint stated, and instead used his vehicle to block the driveway constituting the entrance to the premises, and called Officer Fitial to come and assist him in arresting Yarolfalchuw.
Fitial arrived in another vehicle, which he also used to block Yarolfalchuw’s driveway.
The complaint stated that Fitial, with the assistance and under the supervision and direction of Cabrera, ordered Yarolfalchuw to place his hands behind his back, and placed him in handcuffs, “doing so with such force and violence as to cause sharp pain and suffering to [Yarolfalchuw] in his arms and shoulders, both at the time and afterward.”
According to the complaint, Fitial then ordered Yarolfalchuw to get into the officer’s vehicle. Fitial drove him to the Department of Public Safety headquarters, where he was held in custody for the rest of the day and the following night, until he was released around 4 p.m. the following day.
“At no time did Sergeant Cabrera, Officer Fitial, or either of them, have any warrant for either the search of the premises or the arrest of plaintiff, nor did any exigent circumstances exist that would permit a warrantless arrest of plaintiff at his home,” the complaint stated.
The complaint also stated that an arrest of a person at his home, without a warrant, and without both exigent circumstances and reasonable cause to believe that he had committed a felony is an unreasonable and illegal seizure.
“An arrest made with a degree of force that is objectively unreasonable under the totality of the existing circumstances is also an unreasonable and illegal seizure,” the complaint stated.
In federal court, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has granted the request of the CNMI government to dismiss Fitial from the federal lawsuit. Cabrera remains the only defendant in the case.
Yarolfalchuw sued Fitial and Cabrera in federal court in January 2022, alleging unlawful arrest and the deprivation of his civil rights.
Judge Manglona has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 17 at 1:30 pm.
Nicholas Yarolfalchuw
