The driver of the car fled the scene of the 4:30 p.m. accident but later turned himself in to security officers at the Mililani Town Center and was turned over to police.

Anthony Grant Pearce II, 20, of Waipi'o, was arrested for investigation of failure to render aid, driving without a license and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle. He was released yesterday afternoon without charges pending further investigation, police said.

Pearce has no criminal record in Hawai'i, according to the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center.

Carol Nakamura yesterday said her husband was "doing surprisingly well despite having two broken legs." She said he is scheduled to have surgery today.

"He's in a lot of pain but they have him on painkillers," Carol Nakamura said. "He was able to sleep off and on and seemed pretty comfortable on the meds they were giving him."

On the day of the accident, Carol Nakamura said, she was waiting for her husband to come home about 5 p.m., as is his habit. Instead, she received a cell phone call from her husband's brother, who had passed the accident scene in his car and saw that Michael Nakamura was involved.

"My brother-in-law talked to the officers at the scene and called back to let me know that they were taking my husband to Queen's," Carol Nakamura said.

The former chief was loaded into a city ambulance, and Carol Nakamura drove to the hospital.

"We're Christians, so I started saying prayers while I was driving down there," she said.

A stream of well-wishers visited Nakamura Wednesday night at the hospital, including Nakamura's successor and friend, retired chief Lee Donohue. Donohue said Nakamura was "in a lot of pain, but he was his jovial self, under those circumstances."

Carol Nakamura said, "His hospital room was very full even though we kept telling people don't come because Mike's on medication."

He joined the police force in 1970 and was named chief in July 1990. He retired in 1997.