Teen was trying to catch up to friends before fatal Hawaii Kai crash, police say
LEILA FUJIMORI / LFUJIMORI@STARADVERTISER.COM
A car driven by a teen struck a pole on Lunalilo Home Road in Hawaii Kai Friday afternoon.
A 17-year-old boy was killed Friday afternoon when the speeding pickup truck he was driving crashed in Hawaii Kai, police said.
Police Vehicular Homicide Section Lt. James Slayter said the boy was driving a green-and-cream colored 1964 Ford pickup truck, trying to catch up to his friends in another vehicle, when he crashed his truck into a traffic light pole and a stone wall on Lunalilo Home Road near Ahukini Street.
Police said the boy was heading northbound. An Emergency Medical Services report said he died at the scene.
Initially, police received reports that he was racing, but that was not the case, Slayter said.
A Kaiser High School classmate of the boy, who only gave her first name Taylor, said he was a senior and “a good kid.”
“He had a lot of friends who cared about him,” she said.
Family members, numerous friends and passersby were at the scene while police investigated.
Police said the crash occurred shortly after 3:15 p.m before several witnesses.
The friends of the victim came back to the scene of the accident.
