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Posted at 1:15 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Alcohol use investigated in fatal Maui crash

By LILA FUJIMOTO
The Maui News

KIHEI – Police are investigating suspected alcohol use by the driver of a pickup truck that crossed the centerline before a collision that killed a 68-year-old Oklahoma City man and injured six others Sunday afternoon on Piilani Highway in Kihei, The Maui News reported.

Jerry Killough died at the scene of the crash, reported at 4:52 p.m., about 775 feet south of Alanui Ke Alii Road, police said.

He was driving a rented green 2007 Ford Taurus that was heading south toward Wailea when it collided head-on with a northbound silver 2005 Nissan Frontier crew cab truck that had crossed into the oncoming lane, said Lt. Bobby Hill, commander of the police Traffic Section.

The pickup truck landed on its side after the collision, police said, while the Taurus came to rest in brush and kiawe on the makai shoulder of the highway.

Hill said three passengers – Killough's 63-year-old wife and 14-year-old grandson, and a 4-month-old boy who was in a child car seat in the pickup – were critically injured.

The 22-year-old Wailuku man driving the pickup was treated for injuries and released, while a 20-year-old Wailuku woman sitting in the back seat of the truck with the couple's infant was in fair condition at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Hill said.

He said the 63-year-old Oklahoma City woman later was flown to an Oahu hospital. Another grandchild, a 13-year-old girl who was a passenger in the Taurus, was treated for injuries and released. Occupants of both vehicles were wearing seat belts, police said.

In the wake of the second fatal crash this month involving suspected reckless driving, Hill said police plan increased enforcement against speeding and aggressive driving, as well as continuing patrols to safeguard against drunken drivers.

"We will be doing enforcement, especially on this highway," Hill said Sunday night along Piilani Highway, as traffic investigators gathered evidence and examined the crash scene on the closed portion of straightaway between Alanui Ke Alii and Keonekai roads. "I've gotten a couple of complaints in the last week."

Just outside the closed roadway Sunday evening, patrol officers arrested a suspected drunken driver who was stopped along Alanui Ke Alii Road, Hill said.

He said police try to dispatch officers to respond to reports from the public about reckless drivers. If no officers are in the area or if officers are tied up on priority cases, police will issue an advisory so officers can be on the lookout for a vehicle, Hill said.

He said people can report reckless driving by calling police at 244-6400, providing a description of the vehicle and staying on the line to answer dispatchers' questions.

"The best scenario is if the callers can follow the vehicle until we can get officers on the scene," Hill said. But he acknowledged that's not always possible.

If a police officer sees the violation, he can make a traffic stop and arrest or cite the driver depending on the case, Hill said.

Meanwhile, police are continuing to investigate a June 3 collision on Honoapiilani Highway that killed 8-year-old Will Smith of San Antonio. He was a passenger in a car driven by his mother that collided with another car when the latter driver lost control of the vehicle, veered off the roadway, then went into oncoming traffic near Ukumehame Wayside Park, police said.

For more Maui news, visit The Maui News.