A 22-year-old Kailua-Kona man was killed Sunday when he was thrown from his motorcycle after failing to make a curve in the roadway near the 22-mile marker of Mamalahoa Highway and hitting a rock embankment.
Hawaii County police identified him as Jonathan Salinas.
Police said Salinas was speeding and not paying attention while driving a 2009 Yamaha motorcycle south on the highway at 9:43 a.m.
When he failed to make the curve in the roadway, Salinas ran onto the east shoulder of the roadway and into a rock embankment, police said. The impact caused Salinas to be thrown from the motorcycle. He was taken to Kona Community Hospital with head injuries, where he died.
An autopsy has been ordered.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call officer Justin Hooser at 326-4646, ext. 229. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.
This is Hawaii island’s ninth traffic fatality this year, compared with seven at this time last year.
Man dies in Kailua Bay incident
The city Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on a 56-year-old Kaneohe man who was found unresponsive in Kailua Bay on Sunday afternoon.
The victim was identified as Robert Freitas Jr. by the medical examiner.
Emergency Medical Services said paramedics could not revive Freitas, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Woman charged with theft of credit card
A 38-year-old woman with a criminal history of scamming seniors has been charged with stealing from a Mililani woman.
Katy Sterio was charged Saturday night with unauthorized possession of confidential personal information and theft of a credit card. Her bail was set at $200,000.
Her alleged accomplice, Dino Costello, 38, was charged with theft of a credit card. His bail was set at $20,000.
Police said Sterio and Costello entered a 68-year-old woman’s home at about 5 p.m. April 4, and Sterio took two credit cards while Costello distracted the victim. Sterio then allegedly used the cards at various stores, police said.
Police arrested the pair at about 10 a.m. Friday at a Waikiki hotel where they have been living.
In 2012 Sterio scammed a 73-year-old Pauoa man out of $22,000. She served a year in jail for theft and repaid the man. A prosecutor in that case said Sterio convinced the man that she needed the money to pay for another woman’s stomach cancer surgery.
