The teenage driver whom police say is responsible for the Ewa Beach crash that killed a 14-year-old passenger had only a learner’s permit and not a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle, police said.
That means Campbell High School sophomore Brandon Harris, 16, was legally required to have a licensed adult sitting next to him when he drove a GMC Envoy on the afternoon of Nov. 22.
At about 1:45 p.m., the Envoy was traveling east on Kaimalie Street when it crossed the centerline and crashed head-on with a Porsche Cayenne, then with a minivan that was parallel-parked on the road.
Kawehi Adkins-Kupukaa, Harris’ front passenger, died from injuries sustained in the crash. Harris was critically injured, while the 15-year-old in the Envoy’s back seat was hospitalized in serious condition, as was a woman, 41, the driver and only occupant in the Porsche SUV.
Lt. Robert Towne of the Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic Division confirmed to the Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that Harris has only a learner’s permit.
Hawaii law allows a minor who is 16 to obtain a provisional license. But Harris would have been breaking the law even if he had a provisional license because the law says a minor with a provisional license cannot transport more than one non-household member.
Police had previously told reporters that speed and alcohol were likely factors in the crash.
Johnoven “John John” Lagon, the boy in the back seat and Adkins-Kupukaa’s boyfriend, said Harris had consumed about half of a 40-ounce bottle of beer but did not appear drunk. Lagon said neither he nor Adkins-Kupukaa drank alcohol.
Hawaii News Now reported that medical examiners concluded Adkins-Kupukaa had not had any alcohol. The city Department of the Medical Examiner declined to provide the Star-Advertiser that information.
Janelle Kupukaa, Kawehi Adkins-Kupukaa’s mother, said Wednesday night she does not know why Harris’ parents would allow him access to drive the SUV when he did not have even a provisional license.
“I don’t even know if that’s his car,” Kupukaa said.
The Kupukaa family has said they do not know the Harrises, and Janelle Kupukaa said she has not spoken to anyone from the Harris family since the tragedy.
Kupukaa insisted that her daughter never drank alcohol.
“It was a bad choice to get in that car,” she said.
Lagon said he and Adkins-Kupukaa were hungry and Harris agreed to take them to visit a “manapua man” off campus.
Towne said police are still investigating the crash, including whether the Campbell students had permission to be off campus before school let out that day at 2:15 p.m.
Also being investigated is where Harris obtained alcohol, he said.
Harris’ current medical condition is unknown. A source said he is no longer on a ventilator. Efforts to reach his family have been unsuccessful.
Both Lagon and Landa Jeffery, the Porsche driver, were released within 24 hours of the crash.
Services for Adkins-Kupukaa have been set for 11 a.m. on Dec. 17 at New Hope Leeward in Waipahu.
