Kaulana Nordin's problems had been mounting before he crashed a stolen truck yesterday, his family said.

He suffered from mental illnesses and was kicked out of transitional housing for drug use, forcing him to leave his wife, 2-day-old son and 11/2-year-old boy and live on a Nanakuli beach, said family members.

“;This past month, my husband's going through a lot with me pressuring him going to treatment, not being able to live with us because of the choices he made,”; said Kuulei Lincoln, 25, crying outside the tent where he lived on the beach. “;He was lost. A lot of times he would tell me he just like die.”;

On a dare, Nordin stole a pickup truck and was spotted at a Nanakuli liquor store by the truck's owner yesterday morning, said his mother-in-law, Kiki Pagliotti, 51, in whose tent he lived.

He sped off with the owner in pursuit and crashed the truck at about 7:18 a.m. on Hakimo Road near Kanahale Road, killing himself and injuring his 41-year-old male passenger, police said.

Police said Nordin was speeding when he lost control of the truck and collided with a fire hydrant, a utility pole guy wire and a rock wall. The 1995 Nissan pickup ended up in the middle of the road.

  Nordin was pronounced dead at Hawaii Medical Center-West. His passenger was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but his condition improved to serious, police said.

Pagliotti said the passenger lived a few tents away, and she knew him as “;J.R.”;

Lincoln shared her last memory of her husband with those who came to comfort her. “;He came and he kissed me and the baby last night,”; she said.

Hakimo Fatal Crash

 

Man dies after crashing stolen vehicle.

[ Watch ]

 

Lincoln said her husband had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Her mother, who took in Nordin after his eviction from the Waianae transitional housing project, said Nordin would often just sit and stare inside the tent and appeared suicidal.

Pagliotti said she urged him to go out and at least try to do something.

She let him stay after the eviction because he was her son-in-law, and “;somebody's got to open the door to you.”;

Nordin had recently gone to a drug treatment house and was waiting to get in, she said.

“;Instead of finding out what the problem is, they just throw you out on the street,”; Pagliotti said of the transitional housing officials.

Nordin had been convicted of drug charges and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle in February 2008 and had been sentenced to four months' confinement and five years' probation.

This was the year's ninth Oahu traffic fatality, compared with six at the same time last year.