Fatal morning crash snarls Pearl City highway traffic

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Several lanes of Kamehameha Highway were closed to traffic throughout the day yesterday after an early morning crash that killed the male driver and female passenger in a speeding sport utility vehicle, severed a utility pole and damaged a building under construction in Pearl City.

An auto crash early yesterday morning at Acacia Road and Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City resulted in two deaths and a daylong traffic jam. Chopper 8 • Special to The Advertiser

At the corner of Acacia Road and Kamehameha Highway, a 32-year-old woman driving a 1999 Ford Mustang waited at a traffic light. When the light changed, she started across the highway, intending to make a left turn into the eastbound lanes.

The Tahoe struck the side rear of her car before she could complete the turn. "She didn't even see it coming," said Acting Sgt. Jimmy Goeas of the police department's traffic division. The Mustang spun with the impact, but the woman, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured.

The driver of the Tahoe, however, lost control and slammed into a raised curb, sending the SUV airborne.

It smashed into a large electrical pole, breaking the pole into three pieces and cutting power to several area businesses. Then, still airborne, the Tahoe crashed through an unfinished section of an office building at the Pearl Highlands Center and caught fire.

Officers and firefighters extinguished the blaze. A 29-year-old Pearl City man, who was driving the SUV, was pinned inside the Tahoe. The passenger, a 33-year-old 'Ewa Beach woman, was thrown from the car.

The SUV smashed into this electrical pole, breaking it into three pieces, before crashing into an unfinished office building at Pearl Highlands. The SUV driver and passenger were declared dead at the scene. Scott Morifuji • The Honolulu Advertiser

The building, Goeas said, looked like it had been hit by a battering ram.

Hawaiian Electric Company workers quickly restored power to businesses in the area, then worked throughout the day to repair damage to the pole.

A second pole was also damaged by the impact, said Lynne Unemori, a spokeswoman for the electric company. Underground systems also were affected.

The work was to continue through midnight last night, Unemori said. Westbound lanes were closed throughout the day. Police in Pearl City said special duty officers were called in to help with traffic, which was backed up most of the day.

Workers at nearby Sam's Club said business was slowed but not stopped as officers directed customers around the utility company workers. At 7 p.m., traffic was backed up from Sam's Club to the old Home Life furniture distribution center, Pearl City shopper Laurie Meyer, a Kapolei resident, said.