UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (2/9/10 4:31 p.m.)

Police traffic investigators have identified a 53-year-old Kealakekua man who died Monday (February 8) from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash on Route 180 .1 mile north of Hualālai Road in Kailua-Kona.

The victim was identified as Mark D. Bilan, of a Kealakekua address.

This was the 6th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with four [corrected] at this time last year.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (2/9/10 8:26 a.m.)

A 53-year-old Kealakekua man died Monday (February 8) from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash on Route 180 .1 mile north of Hualālai Road in Kailua-Kona.

Responding to a 4:37 p.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the victim was operating a 1988 BMW motorcycle and traveling south on Route 180, when he overtook another vehicle in a no passing zone, lost control and ran off the right side of the road, striking a tree.

The victim was not wearing a helmet.

The victim was transported to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m.

It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs were involved but speed was a factor in this crash.

The name of the victim was being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

This is the 6th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with five at this time last year.

MEDIA RELEASE (2/8/10)

Fire/rescue crews responded for a 4:38 p.m. alarm Monday (Feb. 8) to Mamalahoa Highway (Hwy 180) approximately 50 yards north of the Hualalai Road intersection in Holualoa for a motorcycle crash.

Upon arrival crews found a 54-year-old male with multiple injuries including a significant head injury. The rider was 20 feet down an embankment in a coffee field after apparently losing control of his motorcycle while heading south on Mamalahoa Highway.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the crash is unknown.

MEDIA RELEASE

On Jan. 21, 2010, at approximately 7 a.m., Hawaii Fire Department rescue personnel and Puna patrol officers responded to a report of a construction worker who fell from a building under construction near Pāhoa Village.

Jeremy Rose, a 34-year-old Sure Steel employee from Idaho, fell approximately 18 feet, sustaining a severe head injury.

He was transported to Hilo Medical Center and subsequently flown to Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition. He was pronounced dead 11:13 a.m. Jan. 22.

The cause of death remains under investigation.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (1/11/10)

Two Kailua-Kona men died Sunday (January 10) from injuries sustained in a motorcycle/pedestrian crash on Ali’i Drive fronting the Ali’i Lani condominiums in Kailua-Kona.

The motorcycle operator was identified as Dale R. Dyk, 50, of a Kailua-Kona address.

The pedestrian was identified as Jaison Enriquez, 40, also of a Kailua-Kona address.

Responding to a 3:09 p.m. call, Kona patrol and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers determined that Dyk was operating a 1998 Harley Davidson motorcycle and traveling south on Alii Drive when he struck Enriquez who was crossing the street in an easterly direction.

Enriquez was not in a crosswalk.

Fire Rescue took both victims to Kona Community Hospital.

Dyk was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m. and Enriquez at 5:57 p.m.

Dyk was not wearing a helmet.

Police believe that alcohol and speed were factors in this crash. Police believe that the pedestrian had also been drinking.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest and negligent homicide investigation and have ordered autopsies to determine the exact cause of death.

Police ask anyone with information about the crash to call Officer Marvin Troutman at 326-4646, extension 229.

This is the third traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with one at this time last year.

MEDIA RELEASE (1/10/10)

Two people were killed in a motorcycle accident Sunday afternoon on Alii Drive, according to the Fire Department. The report indicates one person may have been a pedestrian.

Crews were alerted shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday and arrived to find two males laying in the road and one motorcycle on its side in front of Alii Lani Townhomes.

Traffic was diverted to Kuakani Highway.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (1/4/10)

A 28-year-old Pahala man died Friday (January 1) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Pikake Street in Pahala in the Ka’ū District.

The victim was identified as Darcy Aguil, of a Pahala address.

Responding to a 12:02 a.m. call, Ka’ū patrol officers determined that the victim was operating a 1994 Nissan four-door sedan and traveling south on Pikake Street at a high rate of speed between Kamani Street and Huapala Street when he lost control, struck a parked vehicle and was ejected from his car. The victim was not wearing his seat belt.

The victim was transported to Ka’ū Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:43 a.m.

Police believe that speed and alcohol were factors in this crash.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered and autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Police ask that anyone with information about this crash call Officer Joshua Lewis at 326-4646, extension 229.

This is the first traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with none at this time last year.

MEDIA RELEASE (1/1/10)

Fire/rescue crews responded to a 12:01 a.m. alarm Friday (Jan 1) for a car crash on Pikake Street in Pahala.

A car crashed into a parked vehicle on the side of the roadway, flipped over and ejected the driver who then sustained severe head injuries. The victim had no signs of life upon arrival of rescue crews.

The victim was transported to Ka‘u hospital and the investigation is continuing as to the cause of the crash. No other people were reported injured and no roadways were closed.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (12/4/09)

A man who died while scuba diving at South Point on November 16 has been identified as 58-year-old Dan Michael Pech of Anchorage, Alaska.

A preliminary autopsy determined that he died of cardiac arrest.

MEDIA RELEASE (11/17/09)

Fire/rescue crews responded to a 6:17 p.m. alarm Monday (Nov 16) alarm for a missing scuba diver off Ka Lae (South Point). The approximately 50 year-old male diver was missing for two hours according to the reporting party.

Crews searched the coastline and Chopper Two did an aerial search of the area and spotted the victim’s dive flag underwater approximately 20 feet off-shore in 30 feet of water. Rescue personnel recovered the diver’s body which was turned over to police.

The cause of the fatality was not reported.

MEDIA RELEASE

Big Island police have opened a coroner’s inquest case in connection with a man found floating in Anaeho’omalu Bay in South Kohala on Thursday (December 3).

The victim, 62-year-old John Linde of Friday Harbor, Washington, had been snorkeling with a friend until the friend returned to shore for about 20 minutes sometime between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Occupants of a charter snorkeling boat found Linde floating in the water 75 yards off shore.

They took him to shore and attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Fire/rescue personnel arrived and took him to North Hawaii Community Hospital. There, Linde was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m.

MEDIA RELEASE

A 27-year-old Kona man died early Sunday (November 1) in a crash involving three vehicles and a moped.

Kona patrol officers responded to a 1:56 a.m. call and determined that a 2007 Honda moped was traveling south on Ali’i Drive just north of Royal Poinsettia.

A 2006 Honda sports-utility vehicle was traveling north in the southbound lane when it struck a green Ford 2003 pickup truck as the Ford swerved into the oncoming lane in an attempt to avoid the collision. The Honda SUV then crashed head-on into the moped and dragged it and its operator 20 yards before crashing head-on with a 1994 Mazda pickup truck.

The moped operator, identified as Michael Jauss of Kailua-Kona, died at the scene. He was officially pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital at 5:45 a.m.

All four occupants of the Ford pickup escaped injury.

The driver of the Honda SUV, 24-year-old Shanelle Castaneda Acantilado of Kailua-Kona, was not injured. She was arrested on suspicion of first-degree negligent homicide, driving under the influence and driving without insurance.

The driver of the Mazda pickup truck, 26-year-old Anthony B. Smith of Kailua-Kona, suffered minor injuries. He was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he was treated and released and then arrested on suspicion of first-degree negligent homicide, driving under the influence, promoting a detrimental drug, driving without insurance and false safety certificate.

Castaneda Acantilado and Smith were released without charges pending further investigation.

Police ask that anyone who may have witnessed the crash call Officer Thomas Koyanagi at 326-4646, extension 229, or the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

This was the 20th fatality this year.

MEDIA RELEASE

A teenager died Thursday, Oct. 29 from injuries he sustained when he fell 80 to 90 feet down Mamaewa Gulch off of Kohala Mountain Road in South Kohala, police reported.

The victim was identified as Shea Walling of a Honokaa address.

Police determined Walling slipped while attempting to climb out of the gulch at about 10 a.m., falling to the bottom of a 120-foot dried up waterfall.

A 16-year-old male hiking companion also fell and sustained cracked ribs and several scrapes. He was listed later Thursday in serious condition. A third hiker, a 19-year-old man, was not injured.

Fire Rescue personnel extracted Walling and his two male companions from the gulch.

Walling was transported to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:38 p.m.

Police have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death and have classified the incident as a coroner’s inquest.

Mamaewa Gulch is located at the 4 mile marker on Route 250.

MEDIA RELEASE

The Federal Highway Administration is conducting an ambitious new study to better understand and prevent motorcycle crashes, Administrator Victor Mendez announced.

Despite years of steadily improving highway safety and roadway fatalities at historic lows, motorcycle riders remain one of the highest-risk groups on America’s roads. 

Nearly 5,300 motorcycle riders died in roadway crashes in 2008, accounting for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities, and 96,000 were injured.

“Having a better understanding of what causes these crashes will help us improve roadway safety for everyone,” Mendez said. “Keeping people safe on America’s roads is Secretary LaHood’s top priority at the Department of Transportation.”

The motorcycle crash causation study will be the federal government’s first major in-depth analysis of motorcycle safety in nearly three decades. A provision in the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users” (SAFETEA-LU) requires the study, which will be conducted by the FHWA in partnership with the Oklahoma State University. 

The university’s Oklahoma Transportation Center is one of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 10 National University Transportation Centers, and it receives federal grants to conduct transportation research.

“OSU is delighted to be the lead research institution for this important study,” said Dr. Alan Tree, associate dean for research in OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. “We expect very significant, scientifically valid results to emerge from this work and look forward to a very positive final outcome.”

Researchers will evaluate data from hundreds of motorcycle crashes to help identify common factors – including road configurations, environmental conditions and rider experience. 

The study’s focus is to look at how these factors may be affected by countermeasures that, if effectively implemented, will prevent motorcycle crashes or lessen the harm when they occur.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a pilot study to develop the protocols for the full-scale causation research. NHTSA also was responsible for the earlier motorcycle causation study, which was completed in 1981.

Between 1997 and 2008, motorcycle rider fatalities increased from 2,116 to 5,290 – a 150 percent jump, according to U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. 

In 2008 alone, deaths due to motorcycle crashes rose by an estimated 2.2 percent while all other vehicle classes saw reductions in fatalities.

Karin Stanton/Hawaii247 Contributing Editor

Five people were left dead in a trio of traffic incidents that spanned just 32 hours over Labor Day weekend. 

The string of fatalities began Friday night, with the death of football standout Jesse Mahelona in a one-car crash on Kealakehe Parkway, and includes a Saturday night head-on collision in Waimea and a Sunday morning mishap with a canoe trailer that killed a driver on Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Another two people, including an 8-year-old girl, were transferred to a Honolulu hospital with serious injuries, police reported.

Waimea head-on

A couple and their 5-year-old son died late Saturday in a head-on collision in Waimea.

The 8-year-old daughter and the 47-year-old Keaau man who was driving the other vehicle remain hospitalized on Oahu.

Emergency crews responded to an 11:48 p.m. call to find a 2008 Chevrolet station wagon, which was heading west when it apparently crossed the center line, and a 1999 Mercury SUV badly damaged and burned 92 feet west of Mana Road.

The family of four was in the station wagon. Suzanne Leong, 30, of Waimea, and the 32-year-old driver Brandon K. Ng were dead at the scene, police reported.

Aidon Ng, 5, died at 12:32 a.m. Sunday at North Hawaii Community Hospital. His sister, Aimee, 8, was flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where she was reported in critical condition.

The driver of the SUV also was transferred to Queen’s, where he was reported in guarded condition.

Police said Leong, her daughter riding in the back seat, and the driver of the other vehicle were wearing seat belts. Brandon Ng and the boy were not.

Police reported they suspect alcohol and speed were factors in the crash. They also have initiated a coroner’s inquest, two negligent homicide and two negligent injury investigations.

Mamalahoa Highway was reopened at approximately 4 a.m.

Anyone with information on the crash is urged to call Traffic Enforcement Officer Marvin Troutman at 326-4646, extension 229.

Canoe trailer tragedy

Police reported a 49-year-old California man was killed early Sunday on Queen Kaahumanu Highway after a canoe on a runaway trailer crashed through his windshield.

At 8:48 a.m., the trailer carrying three canoes disconnected from a 1999  Dodge pick-up truck, crossed the highway median and hit the oncoming 2009 Ford Escape near Makala Boulevard.

One of the canoes crashed through the windshield and struck the driver, police said.

The man died at 9:45 a.m. at Kona Community Hospital. His name is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin, police said.

A 36-year-old Lahaina man driving the truck and his passengers were not injured.

Traffic enforcement officers have opened a negligent homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy.

Kona this weekend hosted the Queen Liliuokalani Long-Distance Canoe Races, which is billed as the largest regatta of its kind in the world.

Former NFL player dies in Kona crash

Jesse Mahelona, 26, died early Saturday in a one-car crash on Kealakehe Parkway.

Mahelona was driving toward Queen Kaahumanu Highway when his car apparently ran off the left side of the parkway and struck a barrier and construction equipment, ripping the roof off the 1996 Honda four-door sedan.

Mahelona apparently was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected.

Mahelona was transported to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m.

Police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

The 2001 Kealakehe High School graduate played his college ball at Tennessee, was drafted in 2006 by the Tennessee Titans. He also spent time with the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mahelona leaves a daughter and a wife who is pregnant with their second child.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of Mahelona’s death.

This brings the number of traffic fatalities on the Big Island to 19 so far this year — the same as at this time last year.

UPDATED, 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5:

Police have not officially identified the victim of a one-car crash early Saturday on Kealakehe Parkway, but published reports indicate he was Jesse Mahelona, a 2001 Kealakehe High School graduate turned NFL player.

Born April 7, 1983 in Kailua-Kona, Mahelona was a stand-out defensive tackle for the University of Tennessee and was a 5th-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2006. He also played for the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, and Jacksonville Jaguars.

He is survived by his wife, who is pregnant with their second child.

—

MEDIA RELEASE

A man died when he was apparently thrown from his car in a crash early Saturday in Kailua-Kona, the Big Island fire department reported.

The incident was reported at approximately 1 a.m. on Kealakehe Parkway, near the intersection of Queen Kaahumanu Highway. 

Fire crews reported they found the car with its roof torn off on the road and the victim also in the road.

The car apparently was heading toward the highway when it veered off the road and hit a concrete barrier and construction equipment. 

Police are investigating.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (9/1/09)

Police traffic investigators have identified a 56-year-old Kona man who died Friday (Aug. 28) from injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle/pedestrian crash at the intersection of Route 190 and Kalaoa Road in North Kona.

The victim was identified as Adatchie K. Eaton of a Kealakekua address.

Eaton was walking north on Route 190 on the mauka shoulder of the road when a Honda sedan, driven by a 58-year-old Kailua-Kona man, struck him from behind, police reported.

Police have opened a negligent-homicide investigation.

UPDATED MEDIA RELEASE (8/31/09)

A 56-year-old Kona man died Friday (August 28) from injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle/pedestrian crash at the intersection of Route 190 and Kalaoa Road in North Kona.

Responding to a 3:46 p.m. call, Kona patrol and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers determined that the victim was walking in a northerly direction on Route 190 on the mauka shoulder of the road when a 58-year-old Kailua-Kona man operating a 1994 Honda four-door sedan and also traveling north drifted onto the shoulder and struck the victim from behind.

The victim was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle was not injured.

The name of the victim is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of the next of kin.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a negligent homicide investigation and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

This is the 14th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with 16 at the same time last year.

Karin Stanton/Hawaii247 Contributing Editor (Posted 8/28/09)

Police confirmed a pedestrian was killed Friday afternoon on Mamalahoa Highway.

Authorities were alerted at 3:47 p.m. to the incident between Ahikawa Street and Kaiminani Drive. Mamalahoa Highway was closed to traffic while emergency crews responded.

Police had no further details Friday evening, although the road was reopened at approximately 7 p.m.