Updated at 10:42 a.m., Friday, April 13, 2001
Three dead in head-on collision on deadly strip
| • | Caution advised in danger zone |
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Three 18-year-old Mililani High School students were killed in Waialua last night when their car slammed head-on into another car on a stretch of roadway that has claimed seven lives since Feb. 21.
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Andrew Delos Reyes, Miliani High wrestler Advertiser library photo |
The collision happened at about 11:30 last night on Kaukonahua Road, 1.5 miles south of Thomson Corner, police said.
A blue 1999 four-door Saturn carrying the four Mililani High School students and traveling toward Waialua crossed the center-line and smashed head-on with a maroon 1994 two-door Saturn carrying a family of three, police said.
All the students died except for the driver of the car, who was transported to the Queen's Medical Center in guarded condition. The driver was upgraded to fair condition today.
The three students killed were identified by the city's medical examiner as Jeremy Tolentino, 18, of Mililani, Andrew Delos Reyes, 18, of Mililani and Anthony Alexander, 17, of Mililani.
Delos Reyes, a Mililani High wrestler, was son of former Waipahu football coach Sam Delos Reyes.
The family in the other car — a man, woman and their daughter — were transported to Queen's in guarded condition, police said. They were in fair condition this morning.
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The 1999 Saturn involved in last night's crash sits at Waipahu Police Station today as the investigation into the fatal accident continues. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Andrew Delos Reyes won the O‘ahu Interscholastic Association championship in the 112-pound class and finished second in the Data House State Wrestling Championships this year.
“I told him sports would help develop character in a person,” said his father, Sam Delos Reyes. “He loved sports. He was very competitive. He didn’t like to lose. He said he wanted to wrestle in college.”
The senior Delos Reyes said the students in the car knew each other and Tolentino was his son’s best friend. He said his family and the Tolentinos would alternate driving the boys to school.
“I want to offer my deepest sympathy to the families,” Delos Reyes said. “You don’t prepare for something like this. You take for granted that they’ll all come back.”
Delos Reyes said his son told him “Dad, don’t worry, we’re only going to stay in Mililani Town” before he left last night.
“I put a lot of trust in my kid,” Delos Reyes said. “I didn’t expect to get a call like I did last night. I was running from one hospital to another. I was calling police and the hospital.”
Delos Reyes said police told him they found alcohol in the car. He said he talked with his two older sons afterward about making “good choices.”
“We try to instill the wrongs and the rights in our children,” Delos Reyes said. “This could be a lesson to everyone. We all love our kids. We all feel sadness. I’m going to miss him.”
Cynthia Tolentino said her son and Andrew Delos Reyes were to graduate in May and that her son talked about entering the National Guard.
“We were very proud of him,” Tolentino said.
The mother said her son told her that he was going out with Andrew Delos Reyes last night and that she told him to be safe.
“I told him come home safely, not too late,” Tolentino said. “I always say that.”
Police have described the stretch of road as a danger zone. There have been seven traffic fatalities along Kaukonahua Road since Feb. 21.
Maj. William Gulledge, commander of the Honolulu Police Department's Wahiawa patrol district, earlier said of the narrow, winding stretch between Wahiawa and Waialua: "It's definitely a danger zone."
Gulledge has stepped up speeding and drunken driving enforcement in the area, but safety precautions make it difficult to post officers along Kaukonahua Road. "The road is narrow, so we can't pull anyone over," Gulledge said.
