Police said James Kauanui Jr. pulled his Buick into a stall at the Kaiser Permanente Nanakuli clinic, backed out, then sped toward the clinic entrance before crashing into the lobby Friday afternoon.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether the 77-year-old Kauanui accidentally or intentionally ran his car into the clinic. The crash injured a man and woman.
Black marks from the front tires of the Buick were still evident yesterday on the clinic lobby carpet.
Two pieces of lumber covered the giant hole that the car had made, and triangular shards of glass lay outside. Cracks in one of the lobby walls showed where the vehicle finally came to a halt.
Police arrested Kauanui of Wai‘anae after he drove his sedan through the front wall and window of Kaiser’s Nanaikeola clinic at 87-2116 Farrington Highway at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Kauanui, held for first-degree criminal property damage, has been released pending further investigation.
The clinic was closed yesterday except for prescription pickup and laboratory work to repair the damage, said Kaiser official Marcy Aquino.
"I thought there was an explosion in the clinic," said Kaiser security guard George Crawford, who stood only 15 feet from the accident. "Then I see this car in the lobby with the engine still running, and two people near the front bumper."
A 39-year-old woman, sitting on a chair next to the lobby window, was pushed forward 15 feet toward the other end of the lobby.
She and several chairs ended up piled on a 40-year-old man also waiting in the lobby, Crawford said. Crawford heard the man, pinned by the car and debris, screaming for his baby.
"I was just pulling the chairs out as fast as I could, looking for the kid," Crawford said.
The child had gone with the mother to the restroom and was not hurt.
Both injured were taken to the Queen’s Medical Center. The man was treated and released, and the woman was upgraded to fair condition yesterday.
After the crash, the driver got out of his car and began complaining about the lack of handicapped parking at the clinic, Crawford said.
Later, Kauanui said that his slipper got stuck in the car’s accelerator, Crawford said.
While police are still investigating, they said Kauanui got into an argument with Kaiser security before the crash.
Security personnel had told Kauanui he could not park his car in one of the clinic’s three handicapped stalls, since he lacked a proper parking placard.
"I’m just thankful nobody died in this," Aquino said.
The estimated cost of damage to the building has not been finalized. The clinic will provide patient care when it opens at 7:30 a.m. Monday.
