HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT LEROY VICTORINO
PHONE: 961-2332
JULY 9, 2003
H-50514
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
As the result of an investigation, Big Island police have reclassified as a public accident a fatal collision that occurred last May when two bicycles collided.
The fatality occurred on May 26, 2003, when a 48-year-old Kailua-Kona man taking part in a triathlon died of injuries he suffered while bicycling on Queen Kaahumanu Highway (Route 19) near Kiholo, North Kona.
The victim, identified as Wayne Scrimshaw, of a Mamalahoa Highway address, had been flown to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he later died of his injuries.
Police determined that the victim had been taking part in the Keauhou-Kona Triathlon when he attempted to pass another bicyclist about two-tenths of a mile north of the 84-mile marker and the bicycles’ handlebars collided. The collision caused both bicyclists to lose their balance, sending the victim’s bicycle toward the southbound traffic lane and the other bicycle toward the lava field.
At first police believed that the victim sideswiped a vehicle traveling south and that the vehicle failed to stop and render aid. But after interviewing witnesses and inspecting the bicycle, police investigators failed to find any evidence that the bicycle had been struck by a vehicle.
Autopsy results confirmed that the injuries were consistent with the victim’s head striking the pavement.
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