honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 9:23 a.m., Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Waipahu woman who died after truck crash identified

Advertiser Staff

A 72-year-old Waipahu woman who died Sunday evening after being struck in her driveway by a pickup truck the day before has been identified by the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner as Greta Tanonaka.

Police said Tanonaka was hit in the front yard of her family home after the pickup, which was being driven by an 11-year-old neighbor boy, crashed through a hollow-tile wall and toppled a wrought-iron fence Saturday evening in Waipahu.

Tanonaka was pronounced dead at 6:51 Sunday. The Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as "multiple blunt force injuries due to a motor vehicle collision."

The boy's father also was hurt in the accident. He reportedly tried to stop the pickup when it backed down a driveway at the family home, crossed the road and slammed into the wall in front of Tanonaka's home.

Witnesses said Tanonaka was standing behind the wall when she was hit.

The boy's mother, Fuatino Laulu, said on Sunday that her son, Paul, was too shaken up to recall or talk about details of the accident.

The boy's father, 42-year-old Antonio Laulu, said he was standing next to the truck and teaching his son about driving when the accident occurred. Laulu's foot and leg were run over by the family's 2002 Nissan pickup.

The accident occurred at 94-1211 Huakai St., near Mahoe Street. Because it was on private property, police said it was being classified as a nontraffic case.