Victim’s parents sue in Hilo hit-and-run

HILO » The parents of a 22-year-old man apparently killed by a hit-and-run driver in Hilo on Aug. 4 have filed a lawsuit against the couple who they believe are responsible.

Marlene Tim Sing, mother of victim Dale Tim Sing, and the young man's father, Dale Cordero, filed the suit against Konrad Mossman and his wife, Huihui Lavon Kanahele-Mossman. The suit also names Hawaii County as a defendant because Mossman is a county firefighter and was allegedly at a firefighters' event at which alcohol was consumed shortly before the accident.

At 7 a.m. Aug. 5, Mossman called police and said his wife had "struck something" in the Panaewa area of Hilo about 9:30 p.m. the night before, the suit says.

At 9:10 a.m., police found Dale Tim Sing's body. Someone with emergency responder training had apparently tried to revive Tim Sing, the suit says without giving details.

Police found extensive damage to the exterior of the Mossmans' Ford F-250 truck.

The suit says Konrad Mossman was actually driving the truck, but he named his wife as driver to protect his job with the Fire Department. It also says Mossman waited until the next day to report the accident to avoid a blood test for alcohol on the night of the accident.

The suit also accuses police of negligence by failing to impound the Mossman truck immediately, leaving certain pieces of the truck uncollected at the accident scene, and delaying securing of the scene.

County attorney Lincoln Ashida said he has not received the suit yet, but will investigate it when he is served with it. Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said the accident is still under investigation, so he cannot comment.

Neither the Mossmans nor their attorney were immediately available for comment.