A man who was killed Sept. 6 on the Big Island in an accident involving a breakaway trailer carrying three outrigger canoes was a personal assistant to actor Nicolas Cage and before that to Warren Beatty.

Hawai'i County police on Monday identified him as 49-year-old Michael Davison of California.

The North West Evening Mail of Barrow, England, reported yesterday that Davison, a native of Barrow, was vacationing in Hawai'i after filming of Cage's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was completed.

According to police, the trailer was being pulled by a truck heading north on Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway when it became dislodged, crossed the median and struck a multipurpose vehicle heading in the opposite direction. One of the canoes crashed through the windshield of the SUV, striking the driver, Davison.

Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy.

Paddlers at the site said the canoes belonged to the Kahana Canoe Club of Maui.