Big Island father hasn't heard from police

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gregory C. Pluta said he knows his son is dead, but he is still waiting for official word from Hawai'i County police so he can identify and claim the body.

Pluta's son, Gregory, 33, was struck by a sport utility vehicle driven by an on-duty police officer early Sunday morning in Kona. The younger Pluta was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital at 2:34 a.m.

Pluta said yesterday that he was frustrated because he just wants to talk with police about how his son was killed.

"They haven't called us because they know what happened and they know that they screwed up," Pluta said. "I know what happened. I know the truth and they don't want the truth to come out so they ain't saying nothing."

Pluta said an emergency room doctor called him at his Hawaiian Beaches home in Pahoa just minutes before his son died. The doctor said a wallet found on the body directed emergency personnel to call the elder Pluta in case of emergency.

But Pluta said he has not been contacted by police, and authorities are not taking his calls. Pluta said he spoke with a lieutenant in Kona Sunday, but the officer would not discuss the accident.

Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna could not be reached for comment yesterday. An officer in the Kona police station said it is police policy to immediately notify next of kin.

In a statement released Sunday, police said Pluta was walking along Ali'i Drive when he was struck by a south-bound SUV driven by officer Bryan Ellis. Police said Ellis was responding to a "non-urgent" call when the incident occurred.

Police did not describe the nature of the accident, or if speed was a factor.

But Gregory C. Pluta said there were four police vehicles "shooting down the road" to bust a crystal methamphetamine house when his son was hit by the lead car. Pluta said he got this information from one of the people in the second vehicle.

Pluta said yesterday he doesn't want to make the more than two-hour drive from Pahoa to Kona hospital to retrieve his son's body until he knows for sure.

"I don't even know if it is my son," Pluta said. "The police haven't said it is my son, it was just an emergency room doctor who said he had something in his wallet that said in case of emergency, call my father. That's all I got."

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.