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HPU student killed, 2 men injured in 3 accidents

Dan Nakaso
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COURTESY OF WEST DE PERE HIGH SCHOOL
Mariah Danforth-Moore

Hawaii Pacific University has identified the pedestrian killed by a hit-and-run driver just outside its Windward Oahu campus Sunday night as Mariah Danforth-Moore, 19, of Oneida, Wis.

A family friend in Wisconsin said Danforth-Moore was a sophomore at HPU. She was a 2010 graduate of West De Pere High School in De Pere, Wis., school counselor Lisa Boyd said.

“She was such a wonderful, happy, driven young woman. She will be missed by many,” Boyd said in an email to the Star-Advertiser.

Danforth-Moore was among three people struck in three hit-and-run accidents on Oahu Sunday. Two men were injured, one critically, in the other incidents.

At about 8:45 p.m., Danforth-Moore was crossing Kamehameha Highway in the crosswalk near Hawaii Pacific University and was struck by a white sedan sports car traveling in the Kaneohe-bound lanes. Police said she had almost completed crossing to the HPU side of the highway when she was struck.

She was taken in critical condition to Castle Medical Center, where she died, police said.

Police closed the Kaneohe-bound lanes of Kamehameha Highway, from the Pali Highway to the H-3 interchange, until about 2:45 a.m. today while they investigated.

The car, which has “severe” front-end damage, fled toward Kaneohe, police said. The road was wet at the time of the collision, and it is unknown if speed or alcohol were factors in the fatal accident.

The Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazaette said Danforth-Moore was from Oneida, Wis., where in high school she was an honor student, a member of the tennis team and active in stage and production crews in the summer theater program.

HPU issued a news release about the death of Danforth-Moore, who was studying psychology. It said university psychologists and counselors are available to counsel students and other members of the HPU community. For information, call Dr. Kevin Bowman, HPU director of Counseling and Behavioral Helath, at 687-7032, the school said.

“Our HPU ‘ohana grieves with Mariah’s family and friends, and our counselors are working now to help students, faculty and staff deal with this tragic accident,” HPU President Geoffrey Bannister said in the release.

In the first hit-and-run accident Sunday, a four-door sedan turning left on Rycroft Street from Sheridan Street struck a 55-year-old man riding a moped traveling south on Sheridan at about 5:55 p.m. The moped rider suffered a fractured left wrist and ankle and was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.

Police said the driver of the car kept going west on Rycroft. The car was described as possibly a silver Toyota compact sedan. Speed was not a factor, but it is unknown if alcohol or drugs were factors, police said.

In a third accident, a four-door white Volvo driven by a 48-year-old Palolo man struck a pedestrian who was crossing Kapiolani Boulevard at Kamakee Street against the light at about 8:40 p.m., police said. A witness chased down the Volvo and convinced the driver to return to the scene.

The driver was arrested on charges of accidental death, driving without a license and first-degree negligent injury. He was released pending investigation.

After being hit by the Volvo, the 52-year-old male victim was struck a second time by a large, black SUV which fled the scene. The pedestrian had internal injuries and was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition, according to police.

Speed and alcohol were not factors for the Volvo driver, police said.

People with information about these incidents are asked to call CrimeStoppers 955-8300, or *CRIME on a cell phone.

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