Honokaa man dies after being crushed by van
A 58-year-old Honokaa man died on Wednesday when a van he was working on fell on him.
Hawaii County firefighters, responding to a 4:10 p.m. alarm on Ohia Street, found James Thomas Jones unresponsive under a van. An ambulance took him to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:04 p.m.
Police said Jones had been working under a jacked-up van when it collapsed onto him.
An autopsy on Friday determined that Jones died from asphyxiation do to traumatic chest compression.
The case is classified as a home accident.