Police/Courts
Man pleads not guilty in deadly Kalihi crash

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Honolulu man accused of fatally injuring a 12-year-old Kalihi girl when the van he was driving veered off Kamehameha IV Road last August pleaded not guilty yesterday in Circuit Court to misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide.

Attorney Howard Luke entered the plea on behalf of Ryan Miguel, who was driving a van belonging to the air-conditioning repair firm he worked for when it jumped a curb, striking Nancy Phongsavath and two other girls walking home from school.

Phongsavath died of injuries several hours later and the two other girls were hospitalized in critical condition.

Shortly after the accident, police said they believed that Miguel was momentarily distracted while driving and lost control of his van, although they would not say specifically what the distraction was.

Nor was there any discussion of the distraction at Miguel's arraignment yesterday.

Luke said that Miguel, now 24, had his young daughter in the van with him at the time of the accident.

"Speeding and alcohol use were never alleged against my client," Luke said after the arraignment. "This was a situation that resulted in terrible consequences, but was not a case that involved reckless driving," he said.

He said Miguel remains "terribly upset" about the incident.

The dead girl's parents fled from Laos in 1980 to escape communism. They were living on welfare in the Kamehameha IV public housing project with five other children when their daughter was killed.