The driver of a sport utility vehicle that ran over a motorcyclist on the H-1 freeway in Waipahu in April pleaded guilty in state court Monday to leaving the scene of a fatal crash and operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
Chantel Andrade, 40, of Kalihi was scheduled to stand trial on the charges in January. Instead, that is when Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai will either sentence Andrade or grant her request to defer her guilty pleas to give her the opportunity to have the criminal cases dismissed if she abides by conditions similar to probation.
The charge against Andrade for fleeing the scene is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Andrade does not have a plea agreement with the state.
She had been in custody since her arrest in Hilo in August, unable to post $100,000 bail. Ochiai granted Andrade’s request Monday for release into a residential substance abuse rehabilitation facility pending sentencing.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment in July charging Andrade with the April 15 hit-and-run traffic death of Keith Jantoc. The crash occurred in the town-bound lanes of the H-1 freeway near the Kunia onramp.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said Jantoc, 25, of Mililani, died from blunt force injury to the head, neck and torso.
Honolulu police said Jantoc was wearing a helmet.
Andrade turned herself in to police one day after Jantoc’s death. By then police had already found her abandoned full-size SUV in a Pearl City parking lot. The SUV had front damage with motorcycle parts stuck in its grille, police said.
Police released Andrade two days later without charges pending further investigation.
Authorities were not able to locate Andrade after her July 14 indictment until state sheriff deputies arrested her in Hilo on Aug. 7.
