Driver in fatal 1988 collision in Makapuu jailed for 7 years

Question: Whatever happened to Bucky Lake, who was found guilty of manslaughter for a 1988 traffic collision that killed five people near Makapuu?

Answer: Lake, 45, is living in Renton, Wash., and working for Boeing Co.

Lake is the only person prosecuted in Hawaii for murder in causing the deaths of other people in a traffic collision.

He was behind the wheel of a sports coupe, a white Pontiac Trans Am, on June 9, 1988, when the car crashed head-on into a rented van on Kalanianaole Highway near the entrance to Sea Life Park.

Three other people in the Trans Am, Ayce Esteban, 16, Jeremy Ng, 18, and Ross Lealaimatafao, 21, died in the crash. Esteban was ejected from the car. Lake, who was 22 at the time, was the only survivor from the Trans Am.

Two women in the van, Marsha Milam, 40, and her mother, Rita Snider, 69, both visiting from Georgia, also died in the crash. Milam’s husband, 41, and their 6-year-old son Jason were injured. The impact ejected Jason Milam from the van onto the highway.

Police found empty and full bottles of beer at the crash site and in Lake’s car.

Lake’s blood alcohol content measured 0.15. The legal threshold for drunken driving in Hawaii at the time was 0.10; it is now 0.08.

Friends and witnesses told police Lake had been drinking and burning rubber and spinning donuts in his Trans Am in the parking lot earlier at Sandy Beach, where a surf contest was taking place.

Just before the crash, they said Lake was speeding on Kalanianaole Highway and passing cars by driving in the left lane and right shoulder of the two-lane road. One witness estimated Lake’s car was traveling 100 mph.

His friends said they were trailing in another car trying to persuade Lake to slow down.

A state jury found Lake guilty on Nov. 8, 1989, of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.

Circuit Judge Richard Au sentenced Lake to 10 years in prison, the maximum sentence at the time for manslaughter.

Lake’s defense at trial was that he was not the driver of the Trans Am. He did not testify in his own defense or talk about the crash at sentencing.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority ordered Lake to serve at least eight years of his sentence before he could be eligible for parole.

The state Department of Public Safety released Lake on parole on Nov. 13, 1996. The parole expired Nov. 8, 1998.

Except for some speeding and other traffic violations, Lake appears to have kept himself out of trouble with the law, according to a search of Washington criminal records.

In May 2007, Lake was cited for making an unsafe lane change on Interstate 5 in King County. The officer who cited him said Lake’s sport utility vehicle struck the left side of another vehicle.

In May 2008, Lake was cited for speeding on Interstate 405. The officer said he saw Lake’s vehicle overtaking all other traffic. He said he paced Lake’s vehicle traveling faster than 75 mph for more than half a mile.

Lake has been cited two other times for speeding and twice for improper use of the carpool lane since 2008.

He did not respond to requests for comment.

This update was written by Nelson Daranciang. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To …” by writing to Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.