Visitor from Alaska charged with attempted murder on Big Isle
KAILUA-KONA >> An Alaska woman accused of driving a car into her boyfriend on the Big Island was charged with attempted murder.
Crystal Young, 30, was taken into custody Friday after witnesses said an argument led to the 36-year-old man being hit by the vehicle, West Hawaii Today reported.
The man, also from Alaska, was taken to a hospital and then flown to Honolulu in critical condition. He remained in the hospital Saturday night.
Witnesses said Young was driving circles around the man before she drove hundreds of feet away and turned the car around toward him.
“We were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s going to hit him,’” said Tahiti Cho, a witness who said she saw the argument but couldn’t understand what they were yelling about.
Cho and witness Kade DuShey said Young then drove into the man head-on, launching him up the front of the hood before he fell backward.
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“He wasn’t moving,” Cho said. “I hope the guy is OK.”
DuShey and Cho said Young got out of her car and began talking frantically to people who were rushing to the scene. She then got back into the car and sped northbound in the Old Kona Airport Park lot, where she drove into a dead end, DuShey and Cho said.
They said she then fled on foot into bushes.
Witness Marcus Morton said police had her in custody about 10 minutes after she fled.
Young is also charged with abuse of a family member, reckless endangering, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to render aid. A bail amount was not available Saturday night.
