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Tow truck When Charles Joseph and his son-in-law arrived in separate tow trucks to remove the three vehicles in a head-on collision near Maili Point Saturday, they discovered that Joseph's mother was one of two people killed and his daughter among the three injured.
drivers find traffic
victims were kin
One, whose mother died in the
crash, is 'still in shock,'
a relative says
By Leila Fujimori
Star-BulletinJoseph and his son-in-law, Raylan Kawai, who is married to the injured daughter, were still reeling yesterday from the shock.
Joseph's father, Angel Joseph, who owns Angel's 24-Hour Towing and Used Auto Parts, has been sending tow trucks to accidents in Waianae for 48 years.
"I never thought that something like this would happen," said Angel Joseph. "Can you imagine when they got there, especially my son, who's still in shock."
But both father and son worked yesterday; Angel Joseph said he has a contract with the city to remain open every day.
Janet Joseph, 67, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, on Farrington Highway east of Kaukama Road.
The medical examiner's office today identified Elizabeth Kahalepuna, 58, of Kapolei as the second victim.
A 54-year-old Maili man was arrested Saturday at his Hookele Place residence for questioning and later released, but police plan to charge him on two negligent homicide and five failure-to-render aid counts. He was not injured in the accident.
Witnesses told police the man was driving the pickup truck that sideswiped a Grand Am. Both vehicles were traveling west on Farrington Highway.
The Grand Am was forced into the eastbound lanes of Farrington Highway, striking head-on an eastbound car in which Janet Joseph was a passenger and her granddaughter, Janelle Kawai, 30, was the driver. Kawai was taken to Queen's Hospital and remains in fair condition.
The driver of the Grand Am, a 58-year-old Kapolei woman, was pronounced dead at Waianae Comprehensive Health Center. Two passengers of the Grand Am were taken to Queen's Hospital -- a 41-year-old Kapolei man, who remains in guarded condition, and a 14-year-old Kapolei girl, who remains in critical condition. A 1-year-old girl in a rear infant seat was uninjured.
Angel and Janet Joseph started the towing, auto parts and repair business in town and moved it to Waianae in 1952. "It took a few years to get it going, but she was a very hard worker and went with me through thick and thin," Joseph said.
"I have nothing but good memories; that's the only thing I got left. She was a beautiful person," he said of his wife of 50 years.