StarBulletin.com

Truck plunges off H-1


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POSTED: Wednesday, January 28, 2009

An alleged hit-and-run driver fleeing the scene of an H-1 freeway accident was chased by the victimized truck, then drove off a freeway overpass and crashed, Honolulu police said.

Shortly before 10 a.m., a business truck was traveling west on the H-1 freeway, a mile before the Kunia Road offramp, when it was rear-ended by a pickup truck driven by a 40-year-old man, police said.

“;The guys in this truck gave chase to the guy who did the rear-ending,”; said a co-worker of the business truck driver who asked that he and his company not be identified.

He said the pickup truck sped off, went up into a grass area before the freeway passes over Aiki Street.

The vehicle struck a fence and flew into the air before landing on the driver's side on Aiki Street.

“;I don't know if he thought it was an offramp or something,”; he said.

Police said the man was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. Emergency responders at the scene said the man was conscious and the airbags were deployed.

Bottles of alcohol were found in the 40-year-old man's pickup truck, police said.

Police are still investigating whether alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash.