1 dead, 1 hurt in Ewa accident
A roadside electrical worker is hit and killed by driver who falls asleep at wheel
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A 19-year-old Ewa man reportedly fell asleep at the wheel of a van yesterday and veered off Fort Weaver Road in Ewa, killing one man and injuring another.
A 56-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other, 35, was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
The men, both employees of Paul's Electric Services, were installing landscape lighting for a new subdivision at Fort Weaver Road and Keaunui Drive.
Police estimated the men were struck between 25 and 30 feet off the roadway.
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A 19-year-old Ewa driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel yesterday afternoon when the minivan he was driving plowed into two men working well off Fort Weaver Road in Ewa, police said.
A 56-year-old man was killed and a 35-year-old man was critically injured in the 1:20 p.m. accident yesterday, police said.
The 56-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:36 p.m., said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department.
The accident occurred near Fort Weaver and Keaunui Drive, where the two employees of Paul's Electric Services were installing lighting near a new Ewa by Gentry sign fronting a subdivision, Latitudes by Gentry, with homes under construction.
Lt. Darren Izumo* of the Vehicular Homicide Section said the driver of the white minivan told police he fell asleep while driving toward Ewa Beach on Fort Weaver Road, veered off the roadway and struck the two men.
Police have a witness to the accident, Izumo said.
Izumo said the accident occurred between 25 and 30 feet off the roadway. He noted that the minivan had traveled off the right-turn lane, across roughly 10 feet of paved shoulder and another 10 feet or more of unimproved shoulder consisting of dirt and grass, before striking the men.
 LEILA FUJIMORI / LFUJIMORI@STARBULLETIN.COMTwo electrical workers near a job site at Fort Weaver Road and Keaunui Drive were struck yesterday by a van. A 56-year-old man was killed, and a 35-year-old man was critically injured; the 19-year-old driver had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel. CLICK FOR LARGE |
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The driver was not arrested, but police will continue an investigation of the incident, Izumo said. It will be up to the city prosecutor's office to determine whether the driver's actions rise to the level of negligence.
Paul Adachi, owner of Paul's Electrical Services, said the men were completing a landscape lighting project.
"They were really far off the road," he said, adding that "some homes are closer than that," and even sidewalks are closer to the roadway.
A white-haired woman and a younger man -- relatives of one of the victims -- surveyed the accident scene later in the afternoon, the woman in tears.
Pedestrian Rosario Juan, an 85-year-old Ewa by Gentry resident, said he will watch cars more carefully as he walks along Fort Weaver Road.
"When you're walking, watch side to side," he advised. Juan suggested sleepy drivers should pull over and nap briefly before continuing to drive to avoid further accidents.
CORRECTIONWednesday, August 8, 2007
» Lt. Darren Izumo, with the Honolulu Police Department's Vehicular Homicide section, was quoted several times in a story about a pedestrian fatality in Ewa on Page A6 in yesterday's morning edition. The story incorrectly attributed the quotes to Lt. Robert Imoto. Also, Imoto is a captain at HPD.
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