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Family sues driver, Coast Guard in fatal crash

Nelson Daranciang

A 27-year-old Makakilo woman awaiting sentencing for manslaughter is being sued by the victim’s children, who claim she got drunk at a Coast Guard club at Barbers Point Air Station before the fatal traffic collision in Kapolei last year.

A lawsuit against Kristen Maile Mancao was filed in federal court this week. 

Mancao pleaded no contest in state Circuit Court in June to manslaughter in the death of Norbert Dean Galban on July 25, 2009, at the intersection of Fort Barrette Road and Kapolei Parkway. 

Galban’s son and daughter are suing Mancao and the Coast Guard, claiming Mancao got drunk at the Coast Guard’s Hideaway Club before she got behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle and crashed into Galban’s sports car.

The son and daughter filed a claim against the Coast Guard last September and believe the claim was rejected because they have not received a final disposition of the Coast Guard’s investigation, the lawsuit says.

The state says Mancao was driving at 74 mph on a 30 mph roadway when she ran a red light and crashed into Galban’s vehicle as he was making a left turn. Galban, 52, also known and Dean Norbert Gomes, died at the scene.

Mancao and her passenger, a 28-year-old man, were not injured.

The state also says Mancao’s blood-alcohol content was 0.17 nearly three hours after the crash, qualifying her as a highly intoxicated driver. State law prohibits anyone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher  from driving. Penalties increase for levels of 0.16 or higher.

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