Updated at 1:44 p.m., Thursday, April 19, 2007
Police make negligent homicide arrest in 2004 wreck
Advertiser Staff
A 22-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested Wednesday at police headquarters on suspicion of three counts of negligent homicide related to a 2004 crash that killed three people in Kane'ohe.Joseph Naulu, 13, and Mary Irene Filimoehala, 19, both of Kane'ohe, and Winnie Naulu, 27, of New Zealand, were passengers in a rented 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Jonathan Fonua that struck the ramped end of a barrier near the Honolulu-bound tunnel entrance.
The wreck occurred April 16, 2004, on Likelike Highway near the Wilson Tunnel.
In addition to the three passengers killed, the driver and two others in the Chevy Trailblazer — Emeline Naulu, 21, and Jasmine Lutui, 17 — were injured.
Police said immediately after the fatal crash that the Trailblazer was speeding and that the driver appeared to have lost control near the left-banking turn near the tunnel entrance. Those in the SUV were on their way to a wedding rehearsal.
Under Hawai'i law, a first-degree negligent homicide charge requires that the driver involved in a fatal crash be under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident.
