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Ada County Sheriff's Office issues statement on Heikkola lawsuit

Sheriff Matt Clifford said "occasionally we fumble and miss the mark."

BOISE, Idaho — Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford has issued a statement after the settling of a lawsuit brought by Mick Heikkola who was arrested when he was trying to turn in prescription medicine to the Kuna Police Department in January of 2023.

Heikkola was awarded $250,000 in damages and must train all deputies in constitutional law, specifically concerning what happened with Heikkola.

In the statement made by Clifford he said that, occasionally, mistakes are made but, on the whole, most interactions go well.

"Earlier this week, we settled a lawsuit with Mr. Heikkola, stemming from an incident in January 2023. It wasn't our best day. It is the expectation that Ada County deputies perform to the best of their abilities every day --- while keeping people's constitutional rights in the forefront of their minds, while also keeping our community safe," Clifford said.

Clifford also said that they are not trampling on people's constitutional rights.

"The reality is, we have hundreds of contacts every day with people of all different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities and socioeconomic standings. While the vast majority of those interactions go well, occasionally we fumble and miss the mark," Clifford said.

He added that they will include training specific to this case.

"Part of the settlement was to include additional constitutional policing training; fortunately, we had already implemented this training prior to the settlement. We will now  also include a scenario similar to Mr. Heikkola's in our scenario-based training. We are one of few law enforcement agencies across the country with routine built-in training time. Every patrol deputy receives 9.5 training hours per month. These blocks of training include topics such as firearms training, scenario-based training, legal updates, EVOC, de-escalation techniques, arrest and control techniques, CPR and first aid, and more," he said.

As previously reported, Heikkola, a longtime Kuna resident and Treasure Valley businessman, was arrested on Jan. 17, 2023, after Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies “grabbed” him and “pinned his arms behind his back before slamming him into metal railings in front of the station,” the lawsuit states. Heikkola, who was at the police station to drop off an expired prescription his pharmacy accidentally filled, looked at two police SUVs that were parked next to him as he walked into the police station.

“On his way inside to dispose of his medication, Heikkola took a look at the two police cars. He hadn’t been this close to a police car in decades and was curious what his taxes were paying for,” the lawsuit said.

Then a nondescript white car pulled into the lot and a man in a black jacket, beanie and khaki pants got out and asked Heikkola why he was looking in “our” cars, the suit said.

Heikkola said it was his car too as a taxpayer. The man “shouted” at Heikkola to take his hands out of his pockets, but Heikkola said an expletive and walked into the police station, the suit said. Heikkola talked with the receptionist and deposited his medications into a secure drop box, the suit said.

Uniformed officers then ordered him out of the building and told him to take his hands out of his pockets.

“Heikkola said “no” but showed his hands briefly. In an instant, (officer Justin) Philyaw grabbed Heikkola forcefully,” the lawsuit said. “And then all the officers in front of the station grabbed Heikkola and pinned his arms behind his back before slamming him into metal railings in front of the station.”

Of the six officers the lawsuit said were pinning Heikkola, one was the man from the parking lot, a plainclothes police officer, Brian Keen.

The suit alleges that the officers took Heikkola to the station's interview room and interrogated him, but that none of the officers read Heikkola his Miranda rights. 

Heikkola was then taken to jail. The officers provided a report under penalty of perjury to the prosecutor’s office saying Heikkola was read his rights before being questioned, the suit said, but the complaint alleged that this was not true.

Court records show Heikkola was charged with resisting or obstructing officers. The charge was dismissed in August 2023.

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