Toyota is sought in hit-and-run
The vehicle allegedly struck a woman who was in a crosswalk
Police are searching for a light-colored Toyota sport utility vehicle that allegedly fled after hitting and critically injuring a 35-year-old woman in Kailua yesterday afternoon in the fourth hit-and-run crash in the past month.
At about 1:45 p.m. yesterday, police said, the woman was walking her bicycle in a crosswalk on Hamakua Drive near Aoloa Street when the vehicle allegedly struck her.
Witnesses told police they last saw the vehicle traveling on Hamakua Drive toward Keolu Drive. Police said the SUV might have front-end damage.
The woman sustained head injuries and was taken to the Queen's Medical Center, police said.
This is the fourth felony hit-and-run on the island in the last month, accounting for about a quarter of 17 such incidents this year. Three of the cases this year were unfounded.
There were 25 hit-and-run cases last year that involved deaths and bodily injuries.
Just within the last month, four others were injured in hit-and-run accidents.
A woman in her 90s broke her hip Oct. 1 when a car backed into her in the parking lot of the Iwilei Kmart.
Two Schofield Barracks soldiers were hospitalized in serious condition Oct. 19 after a car struck them while they were fixing a flat tire on the H-1 freeway near the airport.
On Oct. 21, teenager Matt Bonilla was struck in a crosswalk on Kamehameha Highway in Aiea.
While none of the accidents caused fatalities, police have said drivers are afraid of prosecution and do not stop.
Police said witnesses are instrumental in leading to arrests and prosecution. Some families, including Bonilla's parents, offer rewards for information that lead to the driver's arrest.
CrimeStoppers is asking anyone with information on the latest hit-and-run to call 955-8300 or dial *CRIME on a cell phone.