Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero were on vacation in Hawaii in March of this year, and while they were in Foodland doing some shopping, they happened to be holding hands and kissing. In other words, they were doing what many couples do, but since they were both women, that was a problem for an off-duty police officer who was also in the grocery store.
Officer Bobby Harrison, Wilson and Guerreo allege, harassed and eventually arrested them. Harrison also allegedly told them not to show public affection for each other and to “take it somewhere else.”
As you might expect, the two women ignored Harrison and continued to hold hands and touch each other as they shopped, which led to Officer Harrison stepping way over the line and confronting the couple as they were at the register to check out. Wilson attempted to call 911, but Harrison grabbed her by the arm and then proceeded to throw both women to the ground.
In a lawsuit filed by the women, Harrison is accused of even worse misconduct. Wilson says:
“I got punched in the face by him. I split my nose open. We were on the ground.”
Harrison then told Foodland employees to hold Wilson and Guerrero down and he bound both with zipties. He also claimed in a police report that one of the women had kicked him, so they were charged with felony assault of an officer. That charge was dismissed five months later.
After they were arrested and charged with assault, the two women could not leave Hawaii and return home to Los Angeles due to the pending court appearance. Out of money, they wound up sleeping in a park on Oahu during their six-month stay in the state.
In their lawsuit, the couple has accused Officer Harrison of hostility towards the LGBT community and is seeking monetary damages.
Featured image by News.com.au, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
