KUNA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A Kuna man who was arrested while disposing of an expired prescription at the police station has settled his lawsuit against Ada County.
The settlement was for $250,000, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, the sheriff’s office said as part of the settlement, “all incoming and existing Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies are receiving and will continue to receive specific scenario training regarding Mr. Heikkola’s arrest.”
“I am satisfied with the outcome and I am confident that the changes being made in the Ada County Sheriff’s Office training will deter this from happening to others,” Mick Heikkola, the plaintiff in the case, said about the settlement in the press release.
A portion of Wrest Collective’s release said that the settlement for Heikkola was “to compensate him for the injuries and harm he’s experienced as a result of the arrest.”
Richie Eppink, an attorney with Wrest Collective, said in an email that aside from Heikkola being “slammed up against a metal railing by half a dozen officers and manhandled” that he “also suffered emotional injuries, humiliation, depression, and damage to his reputation as a result of that physical attack and the arrest.”
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.
Then an unmarked white car pulled into the parking lot and a plain-clothes officer got out and asked Heikkola why he was looking in “our” cars, the lawsuit stated as previously reported.
Heikkola replied that since he’s a taxpayer, they’re his cars too. The officer “shouted” at Heikkola to take his hands out of his pockets, but Heikkola cursed and walked into the police station, the suit said. Heikkola talked to the receptionist and deposited his medications into a secure drop box.
Uniformed officers then ordered Heikkola out of the building and told him to take his hands out of his pockets, according to the lawsuit.
“Heikkola said ‘no’ but showed his hands briefly. In an instant, (an officer) 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.”
The suit alleged that the officers then took Heikkola into 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. Court records show he was charged with resisting or obstructing officers. The charge was dismissed in August 2023. He subsequently sued the county and seven sheriff’s office deputies for wrongful arrest, excessive force and malicious prosecution.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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