HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
ACTING SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. GALI
PHONE: 961-2332
JULY 8, 2001
G-73318
MEDIA RELEASE
A 31-year-old Kailua-Kona man and a 49-year-old Waimea woman were killed Sunday (July 8, 2001) in a three-vehicle collision on Queen Kaahumanu Highway (Route 19) near the 90-mile marker in North Kona.
The woman victim was identified as Miriam Fernandez, of a Waimea address. The name of the male victim is being withheld until notification of next of kin.
Responding to a 4:28 p.m. call, Kona police reported that a 2000 Honda sedan driven by a 53-year-old Kailua-Kona woman was traveling south on the highway when it tried to overtake another vehicle in a no-passing zone, crossed the centerline and collided with a vehicle being driven north by Fernandez. The Honda then struck a third vehicle being driven south by a 19-year-old Honokaa man, identified as Brandon Silva.
The male fatality victim was a passenger in the Honda sedan. The driver of the Honda was listed in critical condition at the Kona Medical Center and was later flown to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu for further treatment.
Three passengers in the second car were also injured. They were taken to the Kona hospital, where two were listed in serious condition and one in fair condition.
Three passengers in Silva’s car escaped injury.
Police have initiated two negligent homicide, one driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and three negligent injury cases.
Sunday’s deaths were the 17th and 18th traffic fatalities so far this year on the Big Island, compared to 20 at the same time last year.
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