Police stop 100-mph
speeder on H-1The motorist may have thought an
officer's car was a racer, police say
A 22-year-old man was arrested for driving more than 100 mph on the H-1 freeway early yesterday after he apparently mistook an unmarked police car for another racer, police said.
Police said the white compact car driven by the suspect and a red Honda Prelude entered the H-1 eastbound via the University onramp yesterday morning just past midnight.
A sergeant in an unmarked car came up behind the two cars, and police said the driver of the Honda may have noticed the police car, slowed down and exited the freeway.
But the white car's driver, Gregory Kalani Moad of Waialae Iki, kept changing lanes and increasing his speed, police said.
"I think he thought the police car was the other car racing him," said Capt. Marie McCauley. "The sergeant pulled behind the vehicle and noticed he was going more than 70 miles per hour and pulling away.
"He continued to follow the vehicle and noticed that the speed was greater than 90 miles per hour as they passed the South King Street offramp and still increasing. As he passed the Kapahulu overpass, he saw that the speed was greater than 100 miles per hour."
The speed limit on that stretch of H-1 is 45 mph.
McCauley said the sergeant turned on his lights and siren and the car slowed down and exited the freeway via the 6th Avenue offramp.
Police arrested Moad near 6th and Pahoa avenues at 12:35 a.m. and later charged him with reckless driving.
Several high-profile fatal accidents, including a Feb. 13 H-1 crash that killed four people, have put car racing and speeding on the political agenda. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would make driving 30 miles over the speed limit a felony.
In 2003, Honolulu police issued 741 citations and arrested 76 people for reckless driving, compared with 595 citations and 107 arrests for reckless driving in 2002.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
