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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Man, 63, killed in Makaha hit-run

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

MAKAHA — A 63-year-old Makaha resident was struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident on Farrington Highway last night, the ninth pedestrian fatality on O'ahu this year.

Carl Johansen was walking home to the Makaha Surfside Apartments with some food to have dinner with his ex-wife, Kathleen, with whom he remained friends, a family member said. As he crossed the highway from a bus stop on the mauka side of the road, he was hit by a Honolulu-bound blue Honda about 6:50 p.m., police said.

Johansen was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:06 p.m. Police were looking for the Honda last night.

Residents who gathered near the accident scene last night said they have been asking officials to put a traffic signal at the intersection of Farrington Highway and 'Alawa Place, near the Makaha Surfside.

"For a long time we've been fighting for a traffic light," Enriqueta Aberca said. Aberca, who lives in the area, said she crosses the street each morning to catch the bus and that getting across the five-lane highway (including the left-turn center lane) can be dangerous.

A witness, Donald Donato, said Johansen was crossing Farrington Highway from the mauka-side bus stop. One townbound car stopped to let Johansen cross, but another car did not stop and hit him, Donato said.

Kathleen Johansen said her ex-husband is a Wai'anae native who spent some time in California, then moved back and lived the past 30 years on the Wai'anae Coast. They had three children, and Carl also has four children on the Mainland from a previous marriage, she said.

Carl, known as "Pinky," was a retired mechanic, said Kathleen Johansen, who was at the accident site with her two daughters and other family members.

About two years ago he was hit by a car there while walking his bicycle along the highway, she said. He was hurt and taken by an ambulance, she said.

Donato said he knew Carl Johansen for many years and that he was a familiar face around Wai'anae. "He always joked around with us, he was so nice," Donato said. "He was a hilarious person."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.