Police patrol officers were not involved in a high-speed chase of a stolen pickup truck that collided with another truck and left two men critically injured Wednesday night, police said. Police deny a high-speed
chase of truck in crashBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comA witness who lives near the accident scene, however, told the Star-Bulletin that a patrol car was just a block behind the stolen vehicle when it crashed broadside into another truck at the intersection of Wiliwili and Citron streets in McCully.
The stolen truck, with four occupants, ran a stop sign and collided with another truck about 10:15 p.m., police said.
Police said the driver of the stolen truck ran off after the collision. Investigators arrested a suspect at 5 p.m. yesterday at the Tradewinds Hotel condominiums at 1720 Ala Moana.
The 28-year-old man was arrested on a parole revocation warrant, but no details were available about the offense for which he was paroled.
The three passengers in the stolen truck were not injured, but the four occupants of the second truck suffered injuries. Two men remained in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center this morning while a third man remained in fair condition. A fourth man was treated and released.
Capt. Gregory Leftcourt of the Honolulu Police Waikiki Patrol said an unmarked police car began following the stolen truck about 10 p.m. after it left an establishment identified as a drug house near Tusitala and Cleghorn streets in Waikiki.
After a computer check, police found the license plate in the records. A patrol officer also recalled that the truck owner had reported seeing the truck with different plates after he reported it stolen.
As the stolen truck turned onto Ala Wai Boulevard, an officer joined the pursuit with his lights and siren turned on, Leftcourt said. "The blue-and-white vehicle attempted to get closer but wasn't able to due to the traffic," Leftcourt said.
The officer lost sight of the truck after it crossed the McCully Street Bridge, and did not see the vehicle again until he went to the scene of the collision, Leftcourt said.
"He turned right onto Kapiolani Boulevard, at which time, because there was no vehicle in sight, he turned off his blue lights and siren. He went up a block to Wiliwili Street and decided to make a check in the area and turned left on Wiliwili Street, at which he noticed four blocks up there was smoke and dust as if something had occurred," Leftcourt said.
Stefan Downs, who lives in a 16th-floor apartment at Wiliwili Vista, said he looked out his window after hearing police sirens and a metallic scraping sound. He estimated the stolen truck was traveling 50 mph when it hit the other truck.
"Police were a block behind them; they were right on them. It all happened so quick," he said Wednesday night.
The three passengers in the stolen truck were arrested for investigation of unauthorized control of a vehicle. The passengers, two 18-year-old men and a 22-year-old woman, were released without charges.