Driver in fatal crash was cited twice for speeding
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
Shannon Alika Waiwaiole, whose car slammed into a date palm at around 100 mph in the outskirts of Hale'iwa on Tuesday, killing him and four companions, had been cited for speeding twice before the crash, according to traffic court records.
District Court records show that in May 2002 Waiwaiole was ticketed for driving nearly 80 mph in a 45-mph zone. Waiwaiole paid a fine of $192.
In May 2001 police ticketed him for driving more than 60 mph in a 35-mph zone. He paid a $187 fine for that offense.
Investigators say the 22-year-old was driving more than twice the legal speed limit at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday when his 1998 green Honda Civic EX crashed, instantly killing Waiwaiole along with Rex Dicion, 31, brothers Patrick Askew-Jackson, 21, and Kaimana Askew-Jackson, 13, and Jose Delizo, 17.
Everyone in the car came from the same Waialua neighborhood.
Police are still investigating the crash and say it's too soon to speculate on varying witness accounts of what may have happened.
What is known, they say, is that the Honda was traveling at an "excessive speed" on Kamehameha Highway toward Hale'iwa town from Waimea Bay when it crossed the oncoming lane and hit a tree near Kawailoa Drive.
Police said yesterday that the accident was reported to them at 1:32 a.m. and an off-duty officer was at the scene at 1:37 a.m. Patrol units arrived at 1:39.
Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said HFD got the dispatch call at 1:37 a.m. and rescue vehicles arrived at the scene nine minutes later. He said Emergency Medical Services ambulances arrived a minute after that.
Police have determined that all five victims were killed on impact. Tejada said rescue workers placed the bodies of the driver and front passenger, who had been thrown from the car, into an ambulance. However, the bodies in the back seat were pinned and could not be removed immediately.
Police Lt. Bennett Martin said that at the speed Waiwaiole was traveling, he would have had only a fraction of a second to react before the car hit the tree.
The medical examiner's office yesterday said initial autopsy results show that all five victims died of multiple injuries caused by the crash.
Blood alcohol test results are pending. Police have said they believe that alcohol was involved in the crash.
Police Chief Lee Donohue yesterday stressed the need for safer driving in the aftermath of Tuesday's deaths. Donohue said safe driving is "common sense — and how often do we have to say it?"
"I don't know if it's true in this case, but when you have speed and young people out in the early morning hours, along with alcohol involved, there is always a chance for tragedy," he said.
"It's just unfortunate, and I feel for those families who have suffered this loss."
Services for Waiwaiole have been set for 9 a.m. Saturday at 59-864A Kamehameha Highway.
Advertiser writers Rod Ohira and Scott Ishikawa contributed to this report.
