WAIALUA — A Waiau businessman who owns an Abbey Carpet & Floors van seized Saturday as evidence in a fatal hit-and-run accident said yesterday that he told police about damage to the vehicle on the day the accident occurred.

Arnel Ulep Abuluyan, 37, an Abbey Carpet installer, was arrested Saturday afternoon at his home on 'Oliana Street in Waialua, and last night was being held at the police cellblock pending charges of negligent homicide and failure to render aid in connection with the July 22 death of David Wayne Aldridge II.

Roy Tokuhama, who owns Abbey Carpet & Floors, said it is standard procedure for his company to call police after a vehicle is involved in any sort of accident. No one at Abbey suspected that the van had been involved with anything other than an accident without injuries, Tokuhama said.

Natalie Okouchi, a company manager, said, "We filed a police report that the van had been involved in an accident." She added, "Arnel told us, but he didn't say he was in an accident."

Tokuhama said the company reported the damage to police, who said Abbey could take it to the repair shop.

Working off a tip that police did not explain yesterday, the 2006 white GMC Savannah van was seized from Kuroda Auto Body in Waipi'o as evidence.

"The arrest was made based on a tip we received," Police Maj. Frank Fujii said yesterday. "An investigation like this is so complex that we always ask for the public's assistance. Everything we do has a purpose."

Initially, police said Aldridge, 18, who was riding his bicycle home after working a shift at a Burger King restaurant along Kamehameha Highway near Dole Plantation, had apparently been hit about 1:35 a.m. by a speeding red flatbed truck that veered onto the roadway's shoulder.

A passing motorist spotted Aldridge in the grass next to the highway and contacted authorities.

Aldridge was first taken to Wahiawa General Hospital in critical condition. He was later transferred to The Queen's Medical Center, where he died around 5 a.m.

A memorial cross, draped in lei and surrounded by fluttering flags, stood on the side of the road yesterday in front of Dole Plantation.

'IT IS UNBELIEVABLE'

At the Abuluyan home in Waialua, Enriqueta Pumaras, the suspect's oldest sister, said yesterday that she didn't see the police take her brother.

"The police have not told us anything," Pumaras said. "I have not seen my brother since they took him."

Abuluyan came to Hawai'i from the Philippines in 1983 and attended Waialua High School, Pumaras said. He is single and lived with his mother.

"He's a very good man," Pumaras said. "It will shock, me. It is so sad. It is unbelievable that my brother would do something like this ... to hit someone and leave them behind."

Kuuipo Galletas, who lives in the neighborhood near the Abuluyan home, said she would see the white van parked in front of the house all the time.

Okouchi said Abby employees are allowed to use company vans outside of work as a job privilege.

FATHER LEFT PUZZLED

The manager of the Burger King where Aldridge had been employed for several months as a food service worker said Aldridge worked the 4 to 10:30 p.m. shift, and then would ride his bicycle to Helemano Military Reservation, where his family lived.

Aldridge's father, Army Staff Sgt. David Aldridge, who has been deployed twice to Iraq, was on an Army training mission in Texas when his son was struck and killed. He returned home early the next day to be with his wife, Susanne, and the couple's 3-year-old daughter, Destiny.

The elder Aldridge said yesterday that he was puzzled that the police plea for information on a red truck led to the seizure of a white van. "We're very happy to get closure, but we're still confused how the police could be so sure it was a red flatbed truck and now it turns out to be a white van," he said.

Earlier this month, Aldridge said when he asked police how they could be sure it was a red truck, he was told there was red paint on his son's backpack.

"It mesmerizes me that it's a white van. No flatbed, no lights, just a regular GMC Savannah van," he said. "I asked 'How do you know it's a red truck? Are you confident?' And ... (an officer) told me to be thankful it's not a white truck because there are a whole lot of white trucks and it would be tougher to find."

More than 150 family and friends from Germany and across the country attended his son's funeral, which was held Saturday in Aldridge's hometown, Jeffersonville, Ind. A memorial service for the teen, who wanted to attend college in Germany and become an entrepreneur, was held Tuesday at Schofield Barracks.

A Leilehua High School graduate, Aldridge was described by friends and family as fun-loving and outgoing.

The Aldridge family plans to return to Hawai'i on Aug. 20 and have asked Schofield officials to help them thank the public for their support, the sergeant said.

WANTS TO KNOW WHY

Regarding the arrest, Aldridge said yesterday, "If they have the right guy, then we're satisfied."

The victim's father said he does, however, have one question for the suspect.

"I'd like to look the guy in the eye," he said, "and ask him why he didn't stop to help my son. I don't know how much he suffered ... to leave anyone in that kind of condition is appalling to me."

He added, "Nothing will bring my son back, but it makes our family feel better that justice may be served upon him. We're very relieved that progress has been made. We're confident (the Honolulu Police Department) has been doing the best it can."