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Kauai police reported a second traffic-related fatality for the year.
Rico Yap, 25, of Lihue was the sole occupant in a Toyota pickup truck that crashed in Lihue Friday morning.
At about 3:50 a.m. Friday, a Toyota pickup truck operated by a 25-year-old Lihue man, was traveling westbound on Rice Street when it drifted off the roadway, sideswiped a utility pole and struck another pole fronting the Kauai Museum, according to a police department news release.
He was transported to Wilcox Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police shut down Rice Street between Haleko Road and Umi Street for three hours to conduct an investigation. The lanes were reopened at 7 a.m.
On March 4, Samuel Mitzel, 28, of Anahola was killed in a crash in Kilauea after a Ford pickup truck sideswiped a Jeep and collided head-on into a Dodge sports utlity vehicle driven by Mitzel. His father, Keith, a passenger in the SUV, was flown to Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition.
