HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. GALI
PHONE: 961-8889
APRIL 25, 2005
CORONER’S INQUEST

MEDIA RELEASE

A 47-year-old Kona man died Sunday (April 24, 2005) at the Queen’s Medical Center of injuries he sustained in a motorcycle-vehicle collision March 7, 2005, in Kailua-Kona.

The victim was identified as Thomas Wermager, of Kailua-Kona.

Responding to a 12:05 p.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the victim was riding a 1988 Harley Davidson motorcycle north on Queen Kaahumanu Highway (Route 19) when he rear-ended a vehicle stopped in traffic about five-tenths of a mile north of the 98-mile marker. The driver of the other vehicle, a 47-year-old Kailua-Kona woman, was not injured in the collision.

Wermager was taken to the Kona Community Hospital and later flown to Queen’s on Oahu in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m. Sunday.

The victim was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

Speed and alcohol are not considered factors in the crash.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Sunday’s death was the 14th traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, compared to 17 at the same time last year.

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