Former Maui Police Officer Charged with Sex Assault

The Maui Police Department took the right action – firing this officer - but why did it take 9 months to do it? And why did it take the Prosecuting Attorney a full year to file charges?

We’d charge cover-up and foot-dragging but this seems to be routine for Maui County. Is the Maui County Prosecuting Attorney’s office so understaffed that it takes them this long to interview a witness and file charges? If so, then let’s get them the staff they need and get rid of this backlog!

Former Maui Police Department officer Lewis Gamble
From the Maui News – Former Maui Police Department officer Lewis Gamble was arrested Tuesday on a Maui County grand jury indictment charging him with sexual assault, kidnapping and other charges, police said.

Gamble, 33, of Paia, was released after posting $250,000 bail, following his arrest at 11:06 a.m., said Lt. Wayne Ibarra, MPD spokesman.

The bench warrant charges Gamble with first-degree sexual assault, third-degree assault, impersonating a law enforcement officer, false reporting and kidnapping.

Ibarra said no additional information about the case was available Tuesday afternoon.

In an interview with The Maui News last year, a 41-year-old man reported being sexually assaulted by Gamble in early March last year after Gamble responded to the man’s home in Kihei to investigate a burglary report. The man said that Gamble, then a Kihei patrol officer, was in uniform and carrying a gun.

The man said he later underwent a sexual assault examination and spoke with police detectives and Internal Affairs officers.

The man also reported being chased and tackled by Gamble during an encounter three weeks later in Wailuku town.

Gamble was part of MPD’s 64th Recruit Class that graduated in December 2005.

Without naming the officer, an MPD report on internal investigations that concluded last October said an officer was suspended for 15 work days and terminated from employment for committing a criminal act in March 2010.