Police have identified a Mountain View man who died April 6 from injuries received in a two-vehicle crash on the Hawaii Belt Road, near mile marker 13, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Police have identified a Mountain View man who died April 6 from injuries received in a two-vehicle crash on the Hawaii Belt Road, near mile marker 13, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
He was identified as Waimoku T. Lum Ho, 28.
Responding to a 1:27 a.m. call, Puna patrol officers determined Lum Ho was operating a 1995 Chevrolet pick-up truck and traveling south on Hawaii Belt Road when he rear-ended a 2009 Dodge Ram flatbed truck, also traveling south.
The Dodge driver, a 39-year-old Volcano man, was not injured. However, Lum Ho, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by Hawaii County Fire Department rescue personnel to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:50 a.m., police said.
It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs were involved, but speed was a factor in this crash, police said.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a negligent homicide investigation and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Anyone with information about this crash should call Officer Paul Kim at 961-2332.
This is the ninth traffic fatality on the island this year, compared to six at the same time last year.
By local sources