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DENNIS ODA / 2013
Jameson Yong in Circuit Court for arraignment in September 2013.
A 24-year-old Waianae man acknowledged in Circuit Court on Thursday to killing a 40-year-old man when he drove the wrong way on the H-2 freeway nearly three years ago.
Jameson Yong now faces a maximum jail term of five years and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kim on Aug. 27.
Yong was charged with second-degree negligent homicide following a fatal head-on collision that occurred on Nov. 19, 2011 when he drove into a pickup truck driven by Lance Miyashiro of Wahiawa. He remains free on $15,000 bail.
Miyashiro was pronounced dead at the scene following the 2:20 a.m. accident. He was on his way home from his job as a bouncer at the Mai Tai Bar in Ala Moana Center.
Police said Yong was driving a white 1992 BMW the wrong way when he crashed into a Wahiawa-bound 2005 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck about a half-mile south of the Ka Uka Boulevard exit.
The impact caused the pickup to flip on its side and crash into the median. The pickup overturned, and a Jeep Liberty SUV crashed into Tacoma pickup truck.
Yong, who had to be extricated from his car by firefighters, was taken in extremely critical condition to the Queen’s Medical Center, where friends said he underwent multiple surgeries. He had to be aided by cane at Thursday’s hearing.
The SUV driver, a 58-year-old man, was also hospitalized in serious condition.
At the time of the November 2011 accident, Yong worked at BAE Systems at Pearl Harbor and graduated from Waianae High School in 2008.
At Thursday’s court hearing Yong said he decided to change his plea to no contest even though there is no plea agreement with city prosecutors.
In 2012, Yong’s parents, who own the car their son was driving, and their insurance carrier agreed to a $20,000 settlement with Miyashiro’s parents. The $20,000 is the per person liability limit of the Yong’s insurance policy.
