Wahiawa man arrested in deadly crash in Kunia

Police arrested and then released the Wahiawa man suspected in a Tuesday morning crash in Kunia that killed his passenger and injured two other people, including himself.

Steven M. Sandry, 29, was arrested as he was being released from the Queen’s Medical Center several hours after Tuesday’s crash. He was then taken to the police cellblock, where he was booked on counts of first-degree negligent homicide and second-degree negligent injury. Sandry was released pending investigation, as is typical in such cases.

Police say Sandry was the driver of a Honda sedan that was speeding on Kunia Road about 7:10 a.m. when it ran a red light and hit a white Camry turning into Foote Gate at Schofield Barracks. 

The Honda then slammed into a traffic signal pole and split in two. A man later identified by medical examiners as Michael Daraban Jr., 39, was ejected from the car and died at the scene.

Police traffic investigators said police, about an hour earlier, had tried unsuccessfully to serve a drug search warrant on Daraban at his Wahiawa home. Officers located the Honda in Waialua and began following it. After the Honda’s occupants spotted a marked police car, they sped away, police said.