Witness tells how pau hana plan ended in fatal crash
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
Six people ended their work day in the fields Monday with good times on their minds. Among them were several longtime friends and a new acquaintance or two.
Frances Carrero
But as they departed Kunia for Makaha, four were embarking on the final drive of their lives.
Christopher Tacut, who was killed with his brother, Joshua Mendoza, and two others in a high-speed collision Monday, is shown with his son, Hunter.
"We all work together in Kunia for Del Monte," said Peter De La Cruz, 25. "We're all in the same crew. They left the job site before me. Then I left like 10 minutes later."
Three men and two women left in a Nissan Altima. De La Cruz drove away in his 1988 Honda Accord. He said the six intended to meet up later in Makaha at a two-story duplex on Farrington Highway where four of the Altima occupants lived.
They never reached their destination. Shortly after 7 p.m., the Altima, speeding along Farrington near the Makaha Surfside apartments, crashed into a Ford Explorer traveling in the opposite direction.
Three inside the Altima were pronounced dead at the scene, another a short time later at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and one person was hospitalized at The Queens Medical Center in critical condition. A woman and man in the SUV were hospitalized in serious condition and later released.
Dead were Verna Leina'a Eli, 24; Tina Vaesa'u, 18; and brothers Joshua Mendoza, 20, and Christopher Tacut, 21 (who used his mother's last name). Critically injured was Vaesa'u's boyfriend, who like her, had worked at Del Monte for only one day.
"I hope he stays alive," De La Cruz said, "because he's the only one that can tell everybody what happened — that I wasn't racing."
VASEAU
Witnesses have said the Altima and Accord were racing. Police, who are investigating the incident, took possession of the Accord, but told De La Cruz to go home after he turned himself in and told them his story.
De La Cruz insists the witnesses have it wrong.
"I'm the only one who saw everything and I know what I'm talking about," he said Tuesday night. "People came after the thing happened. That's when everybody started coming around."
What actually happened, he said, was that the Altima whizzed past him going 100 mph a short distance beyond Wai'anae Intermediate School. De La Cruz said he was driving about 50 mph and had no idea the Altima was behind him.
"They flew past me ... ," he said. "They was waving me down, like calling me, telling me follow them. So I followed them. But then they was going too fast. They was way in front, I'd say about six car lengths."
He said he watched as the Altima spun around and slammed into the SUV. He pulled up to the scene and parked his car at the side of the road.
"I jumped out of my car and ran over there to the car, and I tried to help them but they was down," he said.
He yelled in vain for his friends to respond.
"They couldn't do nothing because they was already dead," he said.
Before leaving the scene, he said he asked onlookers to call an ambulance. He said he returned to the scene later with his brother, but was prevented by police from approaching the accident site.
De La Cruz contends that Tacut was driving. Police have indicated that Mendoza was behind the wheel.
Frances Correro, 30, Tacut's girlfriend and the mother of his son, Hunter, age 2, agrees with police. Correro identified the bodies of the brothers at the scene.
"They were already in their body bags when I got there," she said yesterday. "All I could see was from their chest up. No one knows for sure who was driving. Josh was always the one driving the car. Other people who had seen what happened said Josh was driving."
Correro said Tacut's eyesight wasn't good and he didn't like to drive after dark. She also isn't buying De La Cruz' account.
"I loved Chris with all my heart," said Correro. "But they were all adults. They all knew what they were doing. They were all at fault.
"Witnesses on the scene have all said they were racing. I just think he — De La Cruz — should stand up and take some responsibility for his actions."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser .com.
