Family wants resolution in skateboarder’s death

The family of a 43-year-old Ewa Beach man who died last week is searching for answers as police investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

David Pantohan died Wednesday after he was taken in critical condition to the Queen’s Medical Center following a skateboarding accident on Ala Loa Street in Ewa Beach at 12:38 a.m. Tuesday.

"Right now we’re just not ourselves," said Dominique Pantohan, David Pantohan’s sister. "We just have no closure."

Witnesses said Pantohan, who was not wearing a helmet, was seen holding onto a moving truck while skateboarding in the area. He was later found unresponsive.

Detectives are investigating the incident as a motor vehicle accident and have identified the driver of the vehicle, said HPD spokes­woman Michelle Yu. Pantohan, however, was considered a pedestrian.

A neighbor on Ala Loa Street said she sometimes sees kids riding their skateboards in the area.

An autopsy was conducted Wednesday, and it could take eight to 12 weeks for all the results, including toxicology, to become available, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office, which would not release the cause or manner of death or what types of injuries Pantohan sustained.

Pantohan enjoyed riding longboard and playing basketball with friends and family, said Dominique Pantohan, 30, who lives on Hawaii island. Most members of the extended family, including 11 uncles and aunts and several cousins, have long called Ewa Beach home.

"It’s like one big family," she said. "He pretty much took care of me."

She said her brother’s last job was as a farmworker in Kunia.

She said relatives are hoping witnesses will come forward so they can find out what exactly happened.

"Right now we’re just exhausted," she said. "We can’t sleep. We’re looking for anything."

Anyone with information on the accident is asked to call the Hono­lulu Police Department at 529-3111 or Crime­Stop­pers at 955-8300.