Police cleared in Ma'ili fatality

By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city prosecutor's office has decided not to file criminal charges against two police officers who were pursuing a motorcycle when it collided with another vehicle Aug. 27, killing the rider and another man, both of Wai'anae.

The officers are alleged to have violated the Honolulu Police Department's pursuit policy, which requires the use of blue lights or sirens during a vehicle chase. Although witnesses say this may have contributed to the crash, the prosecutor's office concluded that the motorcyclist caused the accident and that the officers' conduct was not a contributing factor.

The office cited as evidence:

• The motorcyclist was traveling more than 100 mph, witnesses said.
• The motorcyclist had alcohol and methamphetamine in his blood.
• No pre-collision skidmarks were found, indicating the motorcycle driver could not react in time to avoid a collision.
• The crash took place on the long curve at Ma'ili Point and police had fallen far enough behind in the chase that lights and sirens would not have prevented the crash.

The prosecutor's assessment was based on witness statements, final reports from the police department's internal affairs' investigation of the crash and a reconstruction and analysis of the events prior to the collision.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on Aug. 27, a motorcycle that had been reported stolen was speeding west on Farrington Highway. It slammed into a Nissan Sentra and made a left turn from Ma'ili Beach near Kaukama Road. The impact flipped the vehicle over. The motorcyclist, George K. Uahinui, 28, and the driver of the Sentra, Rayson Labaya, 22, were killed. A passenger in the car survived.

A statement from the prosecutor's office said Uahinui caused the crash and that, according to state law, the officers should not be held liable. As a result, the officers will not face charges of negligent homicide and reckless endangering.

Wai'anae resident Wendy Turner, a Honolulu Advertiser motor route driver, said she was driving toward Honolulu with two children in her car that morning when a motorcycle sped by, followed closely by a speeding police car.

If the police car's lights and siren had been activated, the motorist "would have had a warning that something was happening," said Turner, and the collision might have been avoided.

Turner stopped to help the victims and said she relives the trauma of the event every time she passes the site. "What about the families that have undergone so much pain?" Turner said. "To hear that they will not even get a chance to go to court. ..."

Since the accident, the two officers involved have been assigned to desk jobs, but they are expected to return to patrol duty.