Jury convicts Mililani man of negligent homicide in HPD officer’s death
COURTESY HPD / JAN. 2012
Scott Frederick Ebert, 45, left, of Mililani, faces a maximum one-year jail term at sentencing in August. Officer Garret Davis, 28, died in the Jan. 21, 2012 crash.
A state jury found a motorist guilty of misdemeanor negligent homicide instead of manslaughter this afternoon for causing the death of a Honolulu police officer in a fiery crash on the H-1 Freeway in 2012.
Scott Frederick Ebert, 45, of Mililani, faces a maximum one-year jail term at sentencing in August. He was facing a 20-year prison term for manslaughter.
Officer Garret Davis, 28, died in the Jan. 21, 2012 crash.
Davis had stopped his patrol car in the fast lane of the freeway just past the Kaonohi Street overpass in Aiea, behind a vehicle that was stalled because of a blown tire. Ebert’s vehicle slammed into the rear of the officer’s patrol car. The impact caused the car to burst into flames.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner said Davis died not from the flames but from the impact.
35 responses to “Jury convicts Mililani man of negligent homicide in HPD officer’s death”
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A misdemeanor – It should have been manslaughter.
So the officer’s life was only valued at 1 year worth? Justice????
His car was stopped in the fast lane. It does not take much to get hit there. A car stopped in the fast lane without warning flares way ahead is inviting a collision. The motorist with the blown tire was at fault , he should have have driven to the side. Parking in the fast lane is at least as bad as hitting that car. 1 year jail time is more than enough.
And if this was your relative or family member, is 1 year enough?
Yes…because it was an ACCIDENT
It seems too lenient. But, I’d like to see a lot of community service attached to this.
I’d like to see the id!ot who pulled his car over to the LEFT lane instead of the right do some jail time! Common sense. You NEVER stop for ANY reason in the left lane. Period. Driving 101.
Taking the emotion out of it, I completely agree with Allaha. At freeway speed there is little warning. This will be an issue with the added freeway lanes and thus no shoulder lane on the left side in parts of the H1. If you stall you will be in a traffic lane. I don’t see this as an injustice, and I don’t see this as a crime–either. To prove that I can take emotion out of this, I had an issue with a relative that died from suffocation. There were several family members that wanted to litigate for a slow response time. I fought tooth and nail against my relatives, shooting down every single argument to sue. The relative was brain dead upon arrival by EMTs, and the response to the address was within 3 minutes of the call. Relatives failed to gather themselves to make the emergency call for over 6 minutes. It is easy to lash out under duress. It is just as easy to spew nonsense from an armchair in front of a computer making comments.
you need to know all the facts before making an asinine comment..the guy was speeding..at least 80-100 mph because he was supposed to be at the airport so he wouldn’t miss his flight
Isn’t this the guy in the U.S. Air Force already late for his flight and was speeding?
Agreed. The driver should have pulled over to the shoulder. It’s a blown tire, not seized motor/transmission. GET OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
Many parts of H1 don’t have a shoulder (or side of the road), especially next to the fast lane.
You aren’t considering the fact that the police car was very likely flashing all his lights while slowing down and also flashing them after he stopped. Haven’t you ever seen a police car’s lights flashing? You can’t miss taking notice that something is happening there.
This guy was driving too fast or too close or not paying attention.
The city should ensure that the officer’s family is well compensated.
They’ll give his family free rail tickets for a year. Even if they don’t live in Hawaii
you’re a lowlife
More than a lowlife.
Justice was not served. By all accounts, Ebert was speeding when he struck the police car. The police car had blue lights on. I’m sure they were flashing. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something is going on ahead. Normal people would slow down when they see blue lights. Ebert hit the police car so hard his truck flipped over. A policeman died, doing his duty.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/31702886/witness-driver-was-speeding-before-crash-that-killed-officer-in-2012
Don’t people pay attention?
What happens when you see a police car stopped in the fast lane? Do you just keep on going as if there’s still traffic in that lane?
sometimes it’s hard to tell if a car is stopped in the fast lane, esp if it’s around a turn. At freeway speeds, it takes time to stop. IMO the person most at fault is the idiot that stopped in the fast lane because of a blown tire. He should have pulled over to the shoulder.
The police car was not at a turn. If you know where the car got hit, you can see the lane from hundreds of yards away. The sight line is not impaired in anyway and the night was clear and it was not raining or voggy. I know because I drove past the accident right after the accident and saw the inferno. The police officer was doing his job and this guy just blasted in to him. How did all the other drivers in the fast lane avoid the police car and this guy didn’t?
sometimes it’s hard to tell if a car is stopped in the fast lane, esp if it’s around a turn. At freeway speeds, it takes time to stop. IMO the person most at fault is the i.ot that stopped in the fast lane because of a blown tire. He should have pulled over to the shoulder.
it can be hard to get to the right shoulder all the way from the left lane when people are flying on the freeway..if the guy wasn’t speeding he would’ve had time to slow down and not crash into the officer..the guy got off light..maybe 6 months in jail and he’ll be out
The car only had a blown tire. IT IS STILL DRIVEABLE! Sure, you’ll ruin your rims…but that’s just too bad. Many of Hawaii’s drivers are pretty ignorant sometimes, and it takes a real ignorant driver to think it’s safer to stop in the left lane of the freeway instead of making his way to safety — it can definitely be done with just a blown tire.
If you see a police car’s flashing lights and can’t stop, you are driving too close, driving too fast, or not paying attention. In 99.999% of cases, if you hit someone in the back, you are at fault.
“around a turn”? On H1, there are no buildings to obstruct your view where it turns. And, there aren’t any sharp turns either.
Many parts of H1 don’t have a “shoulder” especially next to the fast lane.
You must be a lousy driver. Take the bus or you’re going to kill somebody.
The police car was not at a turn. If you know where the car got hit, you can see the lane from hundreds of yards away. The sight line is not impaired in anyway and the night was clear and it was not raining or voggy. I know because I drove past the accident right after the accident and saw the inferno. The police officer was doing his job and this guy just blasted in to him. How did all the other drivers in the fast lane avoid the police car and this guy didn’t?
Everybody getting all emotional because a police officer was killed. Would you get just as emotional if the cop wasn’t there so, instead, the stalled driver got rear ended and killed? The FACT of the matter is, this Ebert did NOT intend to kill the cop….and ANYBODY else driving in that fast lane (including you) would’ve probably plowed into the cop just the same. Really, the fault lies in the design of the freeway in that there is no shoulder lane for a stalled vehicle to pull into for safety. Also, some of the blame goes to the stalled driver as well, for not even attempting to pull over to the right but instead letting the car stall all the way from 55 mph to zero in the left lane.
The cop’s death was an accident. Therefore, NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE is the correct charge. And yes, my daughter is an HPD patrol officer and yes, if it was her I’d feel the same way. I’d be more upset at the State for having such a terrible freeway system, and I’d be upset at the stalled driver for not even attempting to pull to the right.
The reason the officer pulled behind the car with the blown tire is because oncoming cars are much more likely to see a police car’s flashing lights and slow down. You can’t miss noticing a police car ahead with flashing lights unless you are drunk or not paying attention. Driving too close or too fast can also lead to a collision.
Your daughter, hopefully, is smarter than you and had training like this officer that was killed.
The cop’s death was an accident but caused recklessly. Therefore, it is MANSLAUGHTER, not negligent homicide. The fact that Ebert was speeding, according to two witnesses, makes it a reckless act. But the prosecution was obviously not able to prove Ebert was speeding. Ebert got off easy and the cop was killed in duty protecting a citizen’s life. Very tragic.
the cops death was no accident..the guy was going 83mph according to the police report..he was speeding because he was late for his flight..you must not drive on the freeway or else you would know it’s hard to get to the right when traffic is whizzing by you at 60 mph..i doubt you would feel the same way if your daughter was killed..i can bet on that
Nobody wins. My condolences.
For those of you making excuses for the culprit. How did all the other cars before this guy avoid hitting the police officer’s car with all his lights on and flashing and this numb nut didn’t see him? It’s not like he just got there. He was there for a little while trying to help the driver and then got back in his police cruiser. The night was clear with no rain and you can see the lane from hundreds of yards away. There is nothing obstructing the view of where the police cruiser parked with all his flashers on. The only thing that could have obstructed his view is the guys smart phone.
Speeding fireman got off easy.
Only one year for the death of a man assisting another is outrageous. Now I don’t purport to know the details as the article is so lacking thereof but this is ridiculous.
I wonder if this happens again HPD should not only uses their flashing lights to get motorists attention but immediately throw ignited flares behind their stopped vehicle. They would do this first before doing anything else. Also on the left most lane on the H1, there is no shoulder lane however there is the protected gap created by the Zipper barrier. Maybe if HPD has to stop in the left most H1 freeway lane they turn their flashing lights on, throw flares in the back of their vehicle and get out of the vehicle and walk in the protected space between the solid barrier and Zipper barrier.