By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
FORMER Police Officer Earl Borja used a baton to strike the head of a man with a disability on Dec. 19 in Marpi, according to a complaint and an affidavit of probable cause filed in Superior Court to support an arrest warrant.
Borja, 26, was arrested Friday afternoon and appeared Monday for a bail hearing before Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho while in Department of Corrections custody. He is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and misconduct in public office.
During the hearing, Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas asked the court to maintain Borja’s bail at $20,000 cash, citing the seriousness and violent nature of the allegations. She said assault with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. Assault and battery are punishable by up to one year in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both. Misconduct in public office carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Finding Borja indigent and unemployed, Judge Camacho appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent him. Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig requested that the court modify bail to allow Borja’s release upon payment of 10% of the $20,000 cash bail. Hartig argued that Borja was not a flight risk and that this was his first offense. The prosecutor objected, citing allegations that Borja struck the victim multiple times on the head with a baton. Judge Camacho denied the request and maintained bail at $20,000.
The complaint
According to the complaint, the victim’s father went to the DPS central office on Dec. 19 to report that a police officer had assaulted his son. A DPS sergeant advised him not to file a direct complaint and referred him to Internal Affairs to avoid “internal awareness.” Internal Affairs opened an investigation on Dec. 22 and determined that Borja and Officer Elijah Villar were the two officers who responded to a report from LN Market’s owner about the victim bothering customers and begging for money.
In an interview, the victim said he had been begging for money at LN Market and that the operator had called police on him twice. On the second call, Borja and Villar arrested him, handcuffed him, and placed him in the backseat of their police vehicle. The victim said the officers asked where he wanted to be dropped off, and he requested Kagman. The officers instead drove to Paupau Beach, circled the area, and went behind the former La Fiesta Mall.
The victim said Borja became angry when he tried to get out of the vehicle after Borja opened the back door and asked if he wanted to fight. The victim said he replied, “I don’t want to, sir.” Still handcuffed, the victim said Borja struck him twice on the head with a baton, pressed the baton against the side of his head, and struck him again, causing blood to run down his face. Borja then used the victim’s shirt to wipe the blood. The officers removed his handcuffs and told him they would return to pick him up. The victim hid in the jungle before walking to his father’s house to report the incident.
In a separate interview, Villar said he initially determined he did not have probable cause to arrest the victim at LN Market and decided to transport him away from the area. He told supervisors he was taking the victim north. At Paupau, Villar said he saw many people in the area, so he turned around. He stopped to use a restroom and parked behind the former La Fiesta Mall. When he returned, he saw Borja and the victim outside the vehicle. Borja then returned the baton and told Villar, “I accidentally made [him] bleed.” Villar said he panicked because it was his first time experiencing such an incident and he did not know what to do.
According to DPS radio logs, Borja called central dispatch claiming that while en route to Paupau, the victim was hitting his head on the door. GPS data showed that when Borja made the call, the officers were already in Tanapag heading south toward DPS central, without the victim. Villar also said that during the drive back, Borja repeatedly told him to stick to a story that they had dropped the victim off at the exit of Paupau Beach and that the victim had pushed him, cursed at him, and ran off.
In his interview, Borja said he punched the victim once or twice with his knuckles after the victim bumped or shoulder-shoved him while he was removing the handcuffs. He said he pinned the victim against the car, but because the victim was hitting his head on the door frame, he made him sit on the ground by the tire while still handcuffed. Borja denied using a baton and said he did not recall handing a baton back to Villar or saying, “I accidentally made [him] bleed.”
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
