Hawaiʻi Police Department
Traffic Enforcement Unit, Area II
Sergeant Bradley P. Freitas
Phone: 326-4646. Ext. 229
Report No. C16028388
Media Release
A 40-year-old woman died in a single-vehicle traffic crash Tuesday evening (October 25) in South Kona near the 102-mile marker of Māmālahoa Highway (Route 11).
She has been identified as Denise Scott of Oceanview.
Responding to a 10:16 p.m. call, police determined that Scott had been operating a 2006 Nissan pickup truck, and that she had been traveling south on the Māmālahoa Highway Route 11 just south of the 102-mile marker when she ran off the west shoulder of the roadway and struck a large tree. Scott was taken to Kona Community Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday (October 26).
Police believe speed and inattention were factors in this crash, but it not immediately known if alcohol was a factor.
The Traffic Enforcement Unit has initiated a coroner’s inquest investigation. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
Police ask anyone who witnessed the crash to call Officer Kimo Keliipaakaua at 326-4646, extension 229. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
This is the 25th traffic fatality this year compared with 16 at this time last year.
