HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT LEROY VICTORINO
PHONE: 961-2332
DECEMBER 11, 2003
H-70392/KN

MEDIA RELEASE

A 51-year-old Kona man died Wednesday (December 10, 2003) of injuries he received when he was struck by a truck on Mamalahoa Highway (Route 190) in Puuanahulu, North Kona.

The victim was identified as Charles McCall, of a Captain Cook address in South Kona.

Responding to a 3:51 p.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that McCall was changing a tire about four-tenths of a mile south of the 23-mile marker on the southbound lane of the roadway when he was struck by a 1982 International dump truck driven south by Patrick Close, 40, of Kailua-Kona.

The victim was taken to the Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:56 p.m.

Traffic Enforcement Unit Officers are continuing an investigation into the case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Police are asking anyone having information about the death to call Officer Bradley Freitas of the TEU at 326-4277 in Kona, Sergeant Leroy Victorino of the TEU at 961-2332 in Hilo or the police non-emergency number at 935-3311.

McCall’s death was the 33rd traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year.

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