Idaho man had a ‘humiliating’ interaction with Ada County deputies. Now he’s suing them

Mick Heikkola said he thought he was acting as a responsible citizen when he went to the Kuna police station last year to dispose of expired medicine. He didn’t know that he would soon end up thrown in jail and experience one of the most “humiliating” moments of his life, he told the Idaho Statesman.

Heikkola sued Ada County and Kuna law enforcement Wednesday in Idaho’s U.S. District Court and said they violated his civil rights when they arrested him for allegedly resisting officers exactly one year ago. A judge later dismissed the case and said police had no reasonable suspicion for apprehending him.

“The court ruled that the officers had no lawful basis to stop, detain or seize Heikkola, much less manhandle, arrest or jail him,” his attorney, Ritchie Eppink, wrote in the complaint. The complaint named Ada County, three Ada County sheriff’s deputies and Kuna Police Chief Michael Fratusco as defendants.

Heikkola, 70, of Kuna, had tried to return prescribed expired medication to his pharmacist, who advised him to drop it off at one of Idaho’s official prescription drug disposal boxes, according to the complaint. Following his pharmacist’s advice, he headed to the Kuna police station, which had one of those boxes.

What followed was a tense and physical interactions with an Ada County sheriff’s deputies, hours of interrogation and a misdemeanor charge that was later dropped.

“I really couldn’t believe that it was really happening,” Heikkola said. “It’s just a very, very helpless feeling. ... And they were really rough.”

Kuna man arrested, interrogated by deputies

Heikkola told the Statesman that he parked next to two patrol SUVs at about 12:30 p.m., got out of his car and began inspecting the vehicles.

“They used to have (police cars) open down at the fairgrounds during the fair,” Heikkola told the Statesman by phone. “You could walk up and look in the police car and stuff like that. And I hadn’t looked in one for probably 30 years, so I was curious.”

In security footage without audio, which the Statesman obtained through Heikkola’s attorney, Heikkola can be seen examining the cars and peering into their driver’s windows for about 30 seconds before an unmarked white vehicle pulled up and a man got out. Heikkola said he later learned he was Ada County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Keen wearing plain clothes but did not know who he was at the time.

The complaint alleged that Keen shouted at Heikkola, asking him why he was looking into “our cars.” Heikkola responded that they were his cars too.

“I know that as taxpayers, we pay taxes for those cars,” Heikkola told the Statesman.

Keen persisted and demanded the Heikkola show him his hands, to which Heikkola responded with an expletive before walking toward the station door. The exchange lasted about 15 seconds, according to the security footage.

Heikkola can be seen in the videos talking with the receptionist as he deposits his medication when multiple officers rush in. According to the complaint, the officers ordered him out of the building and asked to see his hands. Video showed that at least six officers pinned Heikkola’s arms behind his back.

According to the complaint, officers then pushed Heikkola up against an outdoor railing, which caused him to soil himself because he recently had invasive surgery. Officers searched him for weapons and interrogated him in a room without reading him his Miranda rights, the complaint said.

Heikkola said Ada County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Philylaw told him he was under arrest, and the Kuna man was driven to the Ada County Jail. Heikkola later learned he was charged with a misdemeanor for “resisting or obstructing” law enforcement, according to the complaint.

“Heikkola sat in his own feces all the way from Kuna to the jail in Boise,” Eppink wrote in the complaint, and then was forced to continue to sit in his filth for hours.

Four hours after his arrest, Heikkola said he was allowed to call his wife.

“It was pretty emotional because I had just taken my wife’s car to drop off the medicine and get an oil change and tires rotated, and four hours later, I called her and told her I was in jail,” Heikkola told the Statesman. “It was horrible, it was humiliating.”

The Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office said they could not comment on the case at this time.

Ada County judge sides with Heikkola

Though deputies told him that he was being arrested for resisting law enforcement, they never filed an official sworn complaint.

Heikkola then filed a motion to suppress all evidence against him and dismiss the charge, arguing that Keen and all other officers “had no basis to stop him, much less order him to do anything with his hands,” according to the complaint.

Ada County Magistrate Judge Michael Dean in August ruled in favor of Heikkola, dismissed the case and ordered all evidence be suppressed, meaning it can’t be used because it was obtained illegally.

“Nothing in Heikkola’s actions or statements rises to the level of reasonable suspicion to believe that criminal activity had occurred or was about to occur,” Dean said in his dismissal order. “Granted, his language may have been colorful, but Heikkola was not required to speak with officers or obey the command to remove his hands from his pockets.”

Heikkola has asked the federal court to order Ada County and the deputies involved to pay him monetary damages and provided declaration that they violated Heikkola’s constitutional rights, including wrongful arrest and imprisonment, unreasonable seizure, malicious prosecution and violating his freedom of speech.

“I just would like the police to get more training and honor their oath,” Heikkola told the Statesman.