Tests show driver in fatal crash was on drugs

Advertiser Staff

The driver in a March 24 crash on the Big Island that killed 4 people, including himself, tested positive for crystal methamphetamine and marijuana, Hawai'i County police said yesterday.

Arthur Kahele, 29, was driving a Toyota Matrix from South Kona to Hilo when he lost control of the car and slammed into a tour minibus on a rain-slicked Volcano Highway near Glenwood, Puna. Also killed in the crash were Kahele's pregnant girlfriend, Sheena Beach, 21, his sister, Adeline Kuahuia, 42, and her husband, Siafa Taetuna, 39.

The medical examiner tested the blood of the four victims and did not report the exact levels of drugs. But police said Kahele had levels that indicated recent use of the drugs.

Police said Taetuna tested positive for an antidepressant.

Police also recovered several grams of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice."