He was identified as Jacob H. Kauakahi of Hawaiian Paradise Park.

Big Island police said he fell out of the bed of a 1986 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old girl at about noon Tuesday on Paradise Drive at 29th Avenue.

Kauakahi suffered head injuries and was taken by fire rescue personnel to the Hilo Medical Center, where he later died.

Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Crackdown aims at illegal passing

Big Island police are reminding motorists that it is illegal, except under specific circumstances, to use the right side of the road to pass another vehicle.

Sgt. Randy Apele, acting head of the Traffic Services Section, said police will enforce the law strictly.

State law bans overtaking and passing another vehicle on the right except when that vehicle is making a left turn; on streets or highways with two or more lanes in each direction and not occupied by parked vehicles; on a street or highway with at least four lanes of traffic, two in each direction; and on one-way streets where the road is wide enough and free from obstructions to allow two or more lanes of vehicles.

The law states that a vehicle may overtake and pass another on the right "only under conditions permitting such movement in safety." It is always illegal to pass on the right if it requires driving on the shoulder.

Counterfeit bills spread on Big Isle

Circulation of counterfeit $20 and $50 bills apparently is expanding throughout the Big Island, police said.

Counterfeit $20 bills were first reported in Kona last week, they said.

Police have since begun getting reports of counterfeit bills from retail outlets in Hilo.

The counterfeit bills can be distinguished from legal bills because they are slightly smaller, have no watermarks or magnetic metal strip inside and feel different to the touch.

Anyone with information about the counterfeiting scheme or who receives a counterfeit bill should call the police nonemergency number at 935-3311 or the Kona police station at 326-4646.

Boy arrested in mo-ped hijacking

Police arrested a boy after he allegedly hijacked a mo-ped rider in Makaha yesterday afternoon, authorities said.

Police said a boy jumped from the bushes and surprised the mo-ped rider at 5:40 p.m. at the intersection of Upena and Widemann streets. He pushed the rider off his mo-ped and then rode off, police said.

The rider complained of pain, but suffered no visible injuries.