Former Whitefish Police officer Michael Hingiss is refuting allegations of racial profiling and unlawful conduct after he contacted federal immigration officials during a routine traffic stop earlier this year.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Missoula on Aug. 11, plaintiff Beker Rengifo del Castillo accused Hingiss of unconstitutional seizure, false arrest and violating his right to equal protection during the April 24 traffic stop. Rengifo del Castillo claims Hingiss’ actions directly contributed to his subsequent arrest by Whitefish-based U.S. Border Patrol agents and weeklong detainment without charge at the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash. 

Rengifo del Castillo entered the country legally in 2024 under a humanitarian parole program. At the time of the stop, a federal judge in Massachusetts had halted efforts to reverse that program. 

In his response to the lawsuit, filed Oct. 27, Hingiss denied all three counts lodged against him and requested that the court dismiss the lawsuit against him and award him attorney's fees. 

“Hingiss did nothing improper or unlawful and is entitled to be held harmless and indemnified by the city ... There is no proximate casual connection between anything Hingiss did or failed to do and the injuries or damages plaintiff is claiming,” wrote attorney Marcel Quinn, who is representing Hingiss in the case. 

The response refuted allegations of discrimination and racial profiling by arguing that the original complaint failed to account for the “totality of circumstances” involved in Hingiss’ decision to contact immigration officials. 

During the stop, Rengifo del Castillo provided his driver’s license, proof of insurance and vehicle registration to Hingiss, but those documents did not constitute proof of Rengifo del Castillo’s legal presence in the country, according to Hingiss’ response.  

In the incident report from the traffic stop, Hingiss stated that Rengifo del Castillo’s vehicle registration predated his driver’s license. 

Hingiss admitted in court documents that he had observed that Rengifo del Castillo was non-white and spoke Spanish, a fact that is corroborated by the incident report of the traffic stop. 

“Officer Hingiss also noted a limited language ability. [Rengifo del Castillo] appeared nervous during this interaction,” wrote Hingiss in the report. “Officer Hingiss requested a person check through U.S. Border Patrol Spokane Dispatch. Immigration violations have been an ongoing issue in Flathead County.” 

Body camera and vehicle footage recorded Hingiss telling Border Patrol dispatch, “Just out with a male that only speaks Spanish, wondering if you want to check him.” Those statements “speak for themselves,” according to Hingiss’ response. 

Hingiss remained in his vehicle intermittently speaking with Border Patrol dispatch for “more than nine minutes,” according to court documents. The response states that a Border Patrol agent arrived on the scene “just as the written warning was printing out.”   

Hingiss handed Rengifo del Castillo’s driver’s license directly to the Border Patrol agent and “informed the [Border Patrol] agent that he was going to issue a warning for the traffic violation and that, because the traffic stop would be terminated at that point, it would then be up to the [Border Patrol] agents ‘if you guys want to continue it, check him.’” 

The lawsuit alleges that Hingiss had “more than enough time” to draft and print a written warning for the broken taillight before federal authorities arrived and that Hingiss essentially detained Rengifo del Castillo and prevented him from leaving the scene by withholding his license.  

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that a traffic stop “become[s] unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete the mission of issuing a ticket for the violation."  

The Police Department’s internal policy on immigration violations states that “no individual who is otherwise ready to be released should continue to be detained only because questions about the individual's status are unresolved.”   

In his response, Hingiss denied allegations that he prolonged the traffic stop and that Rengifo del Castillo was unable to leave the scene. 

“Hingiss denies any allegation that he arrested Beker [Rengifo del Castillo],” wrote Quinn. 

The lawsuit includes the three counts against Hingiss as well as five separate counts against the city of Whitefish, including one count of unconstitutional seizure, one count of false arrest, one count of negligence and two counts of failure to train. Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch is named in one count of failure to train.   

The city of Whitefish filed a separate response to the lawsuit on Oct. 14. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto will preside over the case in U.S. District Court in Missoula. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.   

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].