Hawaiʻi Police Department
Traffic Enforcement Unit
Sergeant Christopher D. Gali
Phone: 961-2332
June 27, 2011
Report No. C11016671
Media Release
A 36-year-old Hōnaunau man was killed Monday (June 27) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash at Keahole International Airport in Kailua-Kona.
The victim was identified as Newton K. Leslie of a Hōnaunau address.
Responding to an 11:35 a.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the victim was operating a 2001 Sterling water tanker and traveling north on Perimeter Road when he lost control on a curve in the roadway and overturned.
The driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt was partially ejected from the passenger door window and was pinned under the vehicle.
The tanker had a full load of water and belonged to a local construction company that is doing work at the airport.
The victim was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:01 p.m.
Police believe that speed was a factor in the crash.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Being that this death occurred within Keahole International Airport on a road not open to the public, it is not counted toward the official traffic fatality count.
