A 54-year-old Kailua man pleaded no contest in Circuit Court on Monday to causing the death of a retired city Building Department official on Pali Highway two years ago.
Charles Kiakona entered the plea to third-degree negligent homicide. He had been scheduled to go to trial June 29.
Kiakona was the driver of a flatbed tow truck that attempted to make an illegal U-turn on Pali Highway at about 9 a.m. Jan. 10, 2013.
The truck was on the median, but the back of the truck protruded into the Honolulu-bound lane.
A Toyota Matrix driven by Herbert Muraoka, 83, struck the rear of the truck, shearing off the top of the car.
The impact caused the Toyota to spin out, ending on an embankment on the Kailua-bound shoulder.
Muraoka was killed.
Paramedics took his wife, Marjorie, to the hospital in serious condition.
Kiakona was not injured.
He was arraigned Feb. 26, and his trial was supposed to begin in March but was postponed until June 29, according to Dave Koga, spokesman for the city prosecutor’s office.
However, Kiakona was granted a deferral Monday, which means the conviction could be erased from his record if he stays out of jail for a year.
Kiakona was also required to perform 45 hours of community service, and a restitution study was ordered.
He was re-arrested Monday for processing purposes, Koga said.
The truck Kiakona was driving was owned by Windward Side Recovery and Trucking,
Muraoka, appointed by the late Mayor Frank Fasi, headed the city Building Department for about 10 years, as building superintendent until he retired in 1994.
He was a Korean War veteran, graduated from the University of Hawaii with a civil engineering degree and began working for the city in 1960.
After retiring, Herbert and Marjorie Muraoka golfed nine holes almost every morning at the Pali Golf Course. Golf clubs were seen in the back of the mangled Toyota after the crash.
