Hawai’i Police Department
Traffic Enforcement Unit
Sergeant Christopher D. Gali
Phone: 961-2332
September 5, 2009
Report No. C09025876
Media Release
A 26-year-old Kailua-Kona man died Saturday (September 5) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Kealakehe Parkway, .1 mile east of Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway.
The victim was identified as Jesse Mahelona, of a Kailua-Kona address.
Responding to a 12:59 a.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the victim was operating a 1996 Honda four-door sedan and traveling west on Kealakehe Parkway when he ran off the left side of the road and struck construction equipment on the property next to the roadway. The victim, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle.
He was transported to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m.
Police believe that speed and alcohol were factors 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.
This is the 15th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with 19 at this time last year.
