Kalihi hit-and-run A Kalihi man, with three drunken-driving convictions, appeared in District Court this morning to face charges in connection with a fatal hit-and-run collision last month.
suspect charged
Tiuli Faatoia allegedly did
not aid a moped rider who
died when he was hitBy Nelson Daranciang
Star-BulletinBail for Tiuli Faatoia, 39, was set at $25,000 and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday a charge of failure to render aid. Because the collision resulted in a death, the charge is a Class B felony, which carries a possible 20-year prison sentence.
Daniel Agcaoili, 33, died May 28, four days after being injured when his moped was struck from behind by a vehicle on Kamehameha IV Road in Kalihi.
Faatoia has been in police custody since June 1 when he surrendered to police at the Kalihi Substation.
"His father-in-law brought him in," said Sgt. William Watkins, Honolulu Police Traffic Division Investigator.
Police arrested Faatoia for negligent homicide and driving without a license in addition to failure to render aid. Watkins said police did not charge him with the first two crimes because Faatoia has not said he drove the vehicle that struck Agcaoili. "He hasn't made a statement," Watkins said.
He said police were able to support the failure-to-render-aid charge with statements from people to whom Faatoia talked about the accident.
According to court documents, Faatoia told his wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law and a friend that he was driving the van that caused the accident.
Lawrence Agcaoili, the victim's younger brother, said he turned to the television news media after his brother died to try to get more information and to encourage witnesses to step forward.
"It appears the in-laws saw the clips and had him do the right thing," he said.
Watkins said Faatoia's wife surrendered the vehicle that police believe was involved in the accident, a silver 1999 Chevrolet Astro van, which he said did show evidence of an impact.
He said police returned the van after taking pictures of it and testing to see that it operated properly.
According to the court documents, Faatoia's wife said her husband left their Kuhio Park Terrace residence in the van on the evening of the accident to go to a 7-Eleven store. She said he did not return until the next evening without the van, and told her it was being fixed. When she saw the van on May 31, she noticed damage that was not there before. The van had a damaged right exterior mirror, a cracked right side body molding and a new windshield, according to the court documents.
Agcaoili said he is considering hiring an attorney to file a civil lawsuit against Faatoia. "The bottom line is, I don't want this guy to walk," he said.
Faatoia's license has been suspended since April 1999 because of his third DUI conviction. He has had his license suspended or revoked six other times since 1997 because of two other DUI convictions and for driving without no-fault insurance or a valid driver's license.