Man killed crossing Likelike Highway is identified

The man killed when a van hit him on Likelike Highway late Tuesday night was identified by the Medical Examiner’s office as Tanny Joseph, 47.

It was the 32nd fatality on Oahu roads this year, compared to 36 at this time last year. An autopsy will be conducted today to determine the cause of death.

Police said a 2011 Honda Odyssey van driven by a 37-year-old Kailua woman hit Joseph near the Wilson Street intersection at about 11:21 p.m.

Joseph was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died at 4:20 this morning, police said.

The van was traveling toward Kaneohe when Joseph darted into the path of the vehicle, police said. He was not in a crosswalk, police said.

Police closed the Kaneohe-bound lanes of the highway for three hours at Wilson Street while they investigated the crash and routed traffic to the next intersection at Alu Street.

It was the third accident in the past week that prompted closure of the Kaneohe-bound lanes of Likelike Highway.

A truck hit a Harley Davidson motorcycle before the Wilson tunnel at 4:40 a.m. Friday, killing Kristin Widner, 25, of Shawnee, Okla. Widner was a passenger on the motorcycle driven by her husband.

Police arrested a 57-year-old Kaneohe man for investigation of negligent homicide.

On Thursday, police closed the Kaneohe-bound lanes to investigate a crash involving a stolen Lexus traveling on the wrong side of the highway that crashed into a police cruiser near the Wilson Street intersection at about 2:30 a.m.

Police are still looking for the driver of the car, who fled the scene. A passenger in the car, Michael Ahakuelo, was charged with second-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

However, the city prosecutor’s office today said charges against Ahakuelo were dropped because of lack of evidence. Based on the evidence, prosecutors couldn’t proven that Ahakuelo had anything to with the theft of the car or that he knew it was stolen, a spokesman said.