A state judge sentenced a motorist who crashed a car into a Waipahu bus shelter, killing a 68-year-old woman on her way to church, to five years in prison Wednesday for negligent homicide.
Richtenson Alyphios agreed to the five-year term when he pleaded guilty in June. He could have been sentenced to a maximum 10 years in prison.
Benita Duldulao died in the Aug. 22, 2010, crash.
Circuit Judge Randal K.O. Lee also ordered Alyphios, 44, to pay $2,137 in restitution to Duldulao’s family for funeral expenses.
Through a Chuukese interpreter, Alyphios said Wednesday that he regrets what happened and promised to conform his actions to social norms.
The state said Alyphios mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, causing his car to jump the curb and crash into the bus shelter on Farrington Highway near the Paiwa Street intersection.
Prosecutor Kurt Nakamatsu said Alyphios’ car traveled 100 feet on the sidewalk before crashing into the shelter.
The crash pinned Duldulao under the car and injured a 67-year-old woman.
Alyphios and his wife, who was a passenger in the car, walked away from the crash. Police stopped them nearby after witnesses pointed them out.
The state said Alyphios had been drinking and was headed to a liquor store to buy more alcohol at the time of the 8:30 a.m. crash. Police measured his blood alcohol content at 0.05.
The legal threshold for drunken driving is 0.08 BAC. Police also found beer cans in the car.
Three months before the crash, police stopped and cited Alyphios for operating a vehicle while drunk, driving while in possession of an open liquor container and driving without a license. He pleaded no contest to the charges a month after the crash. He has yet to satisfy the terms of his sentence including the payment of $1,486 in penalties.
Duldulao’s family filed a lawsuit against Alyphios last year.
