Woman in custody tied to fatal Hauula crash

Two people were arrested Saturday after an SUV plowed into a bus stop in Hauula, leaving a man dead and a woman with serious injuries.

Police said the driver in the crash fled the scene but turned herself in at the Kahuku police substation about five hours later.

The alleged driver, identified in police arrest logs as 36-year-old Vika Fifita Unga, remained in police custody Sunday awaiting charges. She was arrested on suspicion of two counts of failure to render aid and one count of negligent homicide.

Her alleged passenger, 34-year-old David Kinikini, was arrested and charged with hindering prosecution. He was released after posting $2,000 bail, according to police logs.

Unga and Kinikini were married in 2013, according to vital records published in the newspaper. Both have criminal histories that include intoxicated driving, and Unga has a lengthy history of traffic violations.

The crash happened at about 2 p.m. Saturday on Kamehameha Highway, fronting Hauula Kai Shopping Center.

Unga was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer Kahuku- bound when, for an unknown reason, she crossed the centerline and careened into a bus stop on the opposite side of the road, police said. A couple sitting at the bus stop was injured by the SUV, police said.

The man, 61, was taken to a hospital, where he died. The woman, 55, was taken in serious condition to a hospital.

Anita Olszowka, who lives across the street from the bus stop, said she was in a back bedroom of her home when she heard a loud bang.

She went outside and saw a man lying motionless on the ground, a woman about 20 feet away and an SUV perched on a rock wall. The woman was able to sit up, but the man never moved.

At the time, Olszowka thought a man in a white shirt was the driver because he stayed with police at the scene and filled out paperwork.

After learning the driver allegedly fled the scene, she said, she wondered whether a woman she had seen get into a white car shortly after the crash was somehow connected to the incident.

Olszowka said traffic in the area has grown busier over the years, but Saturday’s crash was the worst she’s seen in 30 years living in the neighborhood. She said she was saddened by the wreck.

“I was just sick to my stomach,” she said by phone Sunday. “I was so sad because here it is the holidays. Everybody’s in a happy mood. I felt so sad.”

State criminal records show Unga was found guilty of driving under the influence in 2007 and driving without a license in 2007 and 2010.

Kinikini was found guilty of two counts of driving under the influence in 2008, driving without a license in 2005 and several other misdemeanors.

In addition, court records show Unga has a history of traffic violations, including 10 separate moving violations dating back to 2001.

>> In April she was fined $436 after she was caught driving with a learner’s permit without a licensed driver present and disregarding a stop sign, among other traffic violations.

>> In 2011 she was fined $162 for driving 56 mph in a 35 mph zone.

>> In 2010 she received a $311 fine for disregarding a stop sign and a seat belt violation.

>> In 2008 she drove without a license and was fined $362.

>> On July 10, 2007, she was stopped for driving under the influence without a driver’s license and was later sentenced to five days in jail.

>> On July 18, 2007, she was again arrested for driving without a license and for striking an unattended vehicle. She received a three-day jail sentence.

Unga and Kinikini were also convicted of a burglary in 2008, but that conviction was dismissed after the couple abided by court instructions for five years.

Star-Advertiser photographer Cindy Ellen Russell contributed to this report.