A bicyclist has died after he was struck by a van traveling near Maili Point in Leeward Oahu early Thursday.
His name has not been released by the Honolulu medical examiner, pending notification of next of kin.
According to police, at approximately 5:14 a.m. a 52-year-old woman from the Waianae area was traveling east on Farrington Highway near Kaukama Road in a 2000 Toyota van when the vehicle collided into a 39-year-old man, also from the Waianae area, on a bicycle.
The bicyclist was crossing the highway diagonally at the time of the collision.
He suffered extensive injuries and was transported in critical condition to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where he later died.
Although police said it’s unknown at this time whether speed, alcohol or drugs are factors, Emergency Medical ervices reported the van was traveling at a “high rate of speed” at the time of the crash.
Officers closed a section of the eastbound lanes of Farrington Highway to investigate. Lanes were reopened sometime before 9 a.m.
This is the year’s fourth traffic-related fatality on Oahu compared with three at the same time last year.
Man charged in Hapuna Beach assault
A 30-year-old Kamuela man has been charged after he allegedly assaulted two visitors near Hapuna Beach State Park.
Herbert A.M. Lee was charged with second-degree robbery and two counts of third-degree assault. He is in custody in lieu of $7,000 bail and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday.
Shortly before 4:50 p.m. Monday, police said, a man and a woman from California, both 64, were exiting the park on bicycles when a truck allegedly driven by Lee drove into the park from the exit lane. The visitors were forced to veer off the road to avoid the truck.
Police said Lee allegedly shouted at the visitors. Shortly afterward, the truck approached the visitors while they were on Hapuna Beach and Old Puako roads.
Lee allegedly exited the vehicle and assaulted the visitors. Police said he took the man’s cellphone and fled when a good Samaritan tried to intervene.
Medics responded and treated the victims at the scene.
Police arrested Lee in Kona on Wednesday.
Fire destroys Kalaheo house; man escapes
Fire destroyed a three-bedroom Kalaheo house late Wednesday night, the Kauai Fire Department said in a news release Thursday.
A man who was home at the time of the fire escaped without injury, the Fire Department said.
Firefighters arrived shortly after the fire broke out at 11 p.m. to find the single-story home fully engulfed in flames.
Three companies and a battalion chief responded to the blaze and extinguished the fire just after midnight.
Fire investigators say the home is a total loss, and estimated the fire caused about $200,000 in damage to the structure and its contents.
Fire investigators also found the fire appears to have originated on the front porch, but the cause is still under investigation.
The American Red Cross is assisting the man who was displaced.
