Maui man charged in 2018 fatal hit-and-run in Kihei

A 27-year-old Kihei man has been charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run early last year in Kihei, Maui police said.

Kimo Mike Sims was identified as the driver in the Jan. 23, 2018, crash in a McDonald’s parking lot at 1214 South Kihei Road.

He was charged Thursday with fleeing the scene of a fatal crash and second-degree negligent homicide. Police arrested him at his home Thursday, and his bail was set at $20,000.

Police said they spent hundreds of hours in numerous follow-up investigations and reconstructing the crash to identify Sims as the driver.

The crash occurred at 2:27 a.m. when a black 2013 Honda Civic traveling north on South Kihei Road made a left turn into the parking lot. The driver hit the curb at the entrance to the parking lot, then continued into the parking lot, where the driver hit a pedestrian.

The pedestrian, identified as Robert Mercier, 57, with no local address, was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he died.

Police said the driver and a passenger fled the scene on foot without helping the pedestrian before police arrived.