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Driver charged
By Gary T. Kubota
in deadly crash
Star-BulletinWAILUKU -- The man charged in the traffic deaths of four people said he was driving about 60 mph on a curve when the vehicle went off the road in Kahului, according to a police affidavit filed in Wailuku District Court.
The speed limit along Hana Highway entering Kaahumanu Avenue is 30 mph.
Davut Duman, 30, of Turkey told police the next thing he remembered was being in the vehicle upside down early Saturday morning.
Duman, held on $25,000 bail on charges including four counts of second-degree negligent homicide, appeared in Wailuku District Court yesterday.
His preliminary hearing was postponed until Tuesday, when his attorney hopes to be provided with an interpreter.
Deputy Public Defender David Wiltsie said Duman has been speaking English for only three years.
Traffic investigator Leighton Kanaele said by police calculations, the rented sports utility vehicle was traveling at 66 mph before it jumped the curve, struck a coconut tree, flipped over and crashed into a building occupied by GTE Wireless.
Killed were back-seat passengers Claire Breasley, 27, and Sharon Smith, 28, both of Great Britain, and Huseyim Karacik, 29, and Inan Hir, 21, both of Turkey.
The front-seat passenger, Levent Yilmaz, 24, of Turkey has been released from Maui Memorial Hospital.
All six worked aboard the Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas, which anchored off Maui but has since left.
Duman said as he drove, Smith was telling him to drive faster, while Yilmaz was asking him to slow down, the police report said.
Duman said he was not familiar with the road and before driving, he had a beer at a Lahaina bar and a sip of a beer at a disco.
