honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 6:13 p.m., Thursday, February 26, 2009

Two crashes claim four lives on Oahu

 •  Friends ID motorcyclist killed in Maili crash with school bus
 •  Manager confirms 2 of 3 killed worked at Haleiwa Joe’s
 •  Police release ages of Likelike crash victims
 •  Deaths bring traffic toll to 17 for year
Photo gallery: Likelike car crash kills three
Photo gallery: Wilson Tunnel crash
Photo gallery: Motorcyclist dies after being struck by bus

By David Waite and Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Staff Writers

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Tow truck operator Jeffrey Bricker walks past the wreckage of a car that crashed on Likelike Highway this morning, killing three people.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Wesley Garcia

NANCY ENOS | Special to The Advertiser

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

James Krzywonski

Haleiwa Joe's photo

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Keone Cardenas

Haleiwa Joe's photo

spacer spacer
Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Amaya Albertsen

Photo courtesy of KHON2

spacer spacer

A day that began with the death of three people in a high-speed crash on Likelike Highway grew darker this afternoon when a motorcyclist died after a collision with a school bus in Maili.

The motorcyclist was being described as a man in his 40s. Police said the school bus was empty and the motorcyclist was the only person injured.

He was taken to the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Co-workers and friends identified the man as Wesley Garcia, whom they described as a friendly, easy-going guy.

Early this morning, two men and a woman were killed in a high-speed, single-car crash in a Kaneohe-bound lane of Likelike Highway at the entrance to Wilson Tunnel.

Tim York, manager at Haleiwa Joe's restaurant in Kaneohe, identified two of the victims as James Krzywonski and Keone Cardenas, both employees of the restaurant.

Police identified the victims only as two men, ages 30 and 25, and a 22-year-old woman.

KHON-2 identified the woman killed in the crash as 22-year-old Amaya Albertsen.

Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department, said all were pronounced dead at the scene.

He said the accident occurred about 3:50 a.m.

Police turned Kaneohe-bound traffic around at Valley View Drive. The closure lasted until about 10 a.m. as crews cleaned up debris and fluids.

Police traffic investigators estimated the car was traveling at more than 100 mph when the crash occurred.

By about 7 a.m., they had completed their investigation at the site.

Police spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii said the four-door Audi sedan was speeding when it hit the embankment on the right, went airborne, slammed into the tunnel wall on the right and landed in the left lane just at the entrance to the tunnel.

At about 7:20 a.m., firefighters began the grim task of extricating bodies from the wreckage.

"We're hoping there are no other people in that car," Fujii said, adding that investigators could not be sure until several of the victims' bodies are removed.

"Our message to people is, 'Don't speed. Speed kills.' This is just a waste of life," Fujii said.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com and Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.