Fatal crash takes JEREMY TOLENTINO just turned 18 last Friday.
devastating toll
on 3 isle families
Mililani mourns teens just
beginning to find their
individualityIdeas for dangerous stretch of road
By Leila Fujimori
and Nelson Daranciang
Star-BulletinHis death shook his close-knit Mililani family.
"We ate dinner every night together, and we also waited for each other," said his mother, Cynthia Tolentino. "After dinner we would always talk about the day for hours. And we did everything on weekends together."
Cynthia Tolentino said Jeremy was well liked. Lots of his friends came to their home yesterday to pay their respects and told her everybody liked him.
Mililani High senior Brian Dade, 18, was supposed to have gone to the movies, said his grandmother. Instead, Dade was headed toward Waialua Thursday night when he crashed his grandmother's car in an accident that killed three of his friends.
Andrew Delos Reyes, 18, and Anthony Alexander, 17, were pronounced dead at the scene. Tolentino died in an ambulance on the way to Wahiawa General Hospital. Dade was taken to Queen's Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
"They practically grew up together," said Phyllis Dade, Brian's grandmother. "I just gave Jeremy scolding for not contacting his parents." Brian and his parents live with his grandmother, and the others visited often.The four teenagers were traveling north on Kaukonahua Road at about 11:24 p.m. Thursday when, police said, Dade lost control of his grandmother's compact station wagon, causing it to cross the center line and slam head on into the guardrail on the other side of the road. A sedan traveling in the opposite direction then slammed into the right side of the car.
The accident happened on a curve in the road, and police believe speed and possibly alcohol use contributed to the accident. Police said the four teenagers were not wearing their seat belts.
The occupants of the other car, a 42-year-old Mililani man, his wife, 40, and their 11-year-old daughter are in fair condition at Queen's Medical Center.
Dade did not learn the fate of his friends until noon yesterday. His grandmother said he has been on medication and suicide watch since."He survived, but at what cost?" she said. "When I look in his eyes, he's not there."
"We feel really, really sorry for the other families." But she also feels it is too early to contact them.
A large group of the three boys' friends gathered last evening at the home of Alexander's girlfriend's house and had dinner and a prayer vigil.
Carrie Abregano was among them. She lost three friends in one fell swoop. "It's just so shocking, we can't even believe it," she said. "We didn't think this could happen to one of our friends."
Abregano said Alexander was the funny guy who would make the whole class laugh. And Tolentino and Delos Reyes were like brothers to her. Their families were close, and all lived in the same area of Mililani. She grew up with the two, riding bikes, shooting pool and swimming.
"They were such good kids," she said. "It wasn't their time. They had so much ahead of them."
Tolentino said her son was a good boy who loved school. He loved surfing and was good with his hands.
He had almost completed his goal of fixing up a 1967 Volkswagen van. It had been painted and it was ready to go. All it needed was reupholstering. "But he didn't have time to drive it," she said.
"He was so young," Tolentino said. "We had so much things planned. There's so much things you want to do, but there's not enough time."
Prayer has helped the Tolentino family, who gathered with their extended family-- Jeremy had lot of aunties and uncles and cousins. "We have each other."
Jeremy was best friends with Delos Reyes, another victim in the accident. The two grew up together.Andrew's father, Sam Delos Reyes, a former Waipahu high school football coach, said he encouraged his son to play sports.
He had hoped his son would take up football as a kicker, but as a 103-pounder, he chose wrestling instead in his sophomore year.
Andrew went on to become the OIA wrestling champ in his weight division and took second in the state championships in March, not a small feat.
His coach, Sam Lee, described Andrew as "a strong and strong-willed young man. When he would commit to something you could be sure that he would see it to its completion.
"He had his heart to be a state champion. He prepared over the summer and during pre-season and committed himself to win the state championship."
Lee said Andrew was a fun guy, popular with the kids on the wrestling team, with a sense of humor. But he watched him grow and blossom.
"We lost a great person," Lee said. As for his teammates, "I think they lost a great competitor, a person who was an example of committing to a goal and pursing that dream."
Sam Delos Reyes said he and his son spent time going to athletic events, but that his son enjoyed going out with his girlfriend and friends from Mililani.
Delos Reyes said he trusted his son, who told him he would stay in Mililani Town the night of the accident.
But he doesn't blame anyone. Yet he said if his son were drinking, he should share some of the responsibility for the accident.
The former coach and now basketball official says he knows the family of the driver is suffering, too.
"I don't think we're trying to blame people for accidents. Accidents do occur. You think it's a nightmare and hopefully you wake up."
Thursday's traffic fatalities in Waialua are renewing calls to city officials to make Kaukonahua Road safer for motorists. Ideas for a dangerous
stretch of roadBy Nelson Daranciang
Star-BulletinThere have been seven fatalities on the stretch of two-lane highway connecting Schofield Barracks with Waialua since the beginning of the year. An eighth fatality occurred on the portion of Kaukonahua Road between Weed Circle and Thompson Corner.
A fatal accident on March 30 happened at the same spot as Thursday's.
Five years ago, Honolulu Police Sgt. Michael Lyons proposed making Kaukonahua Road one way southbound toward Wahiawa. Northbound motorists would have had to use Kamehameha Highway under his proposal.
Instead, the city did a study and installed more guardrails, "No Passing" signs and some warning lights heading into turns.
"We budgeted the money, we did the study, we made the improvements and people are still dying," said Councilwoman Rene Mansho.
She has scheduled a meeting Wednesday with representatives of the city Department of Transportation Services, HPD and anyone willing to make proposals to reduce traffic fatalities on Kaukonahua Road. It is also an opportunity to get an update on the city administration's study.
Lyons still proposes making Kaukonahua Road one way toward Wahiawa because, he said, the majority of the accidents involve motorists speeding downhill in the opposite direction.
He said Kaukonahua Road is dangerous because it was designed 70 years ago for heavy trucks with air brakes, not for today's vehicles. "You cannot just allow people to die because of poor road design and not do nothing," Lyons said.
When drivers go the speed limit, other cars pile up behind them or pass in a dangerous way, said Warren Scoville, a North Shore Neighborhood Board member.
However, he said he opposes making Kaukonahua Road one way. "It's not the road itself that's dangerous, it's the drivers," Scoville said.