HONOLULU (AP) — A woman who died in a suspected drunken driving crash on Oahu has been identified as a 25-year-old stand-up paddle surfer.
HONOLULU (AP) — A woman who died in a suspected drunken driving crash on Oahu has been identified as a 25-year-old stand-up paddle surfer.
Television and radio personality Betty “Banzai” Depolito told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (https://bit.ly/2k7HFAR ) that her friend Sophia Tiare Bartlow died after the crash in Waialua Saturday night.
Authorities said a 35-year-old man was speeding in a pickup truck when he lost control of the vehicle, crossed over the center line and struck a tree in the front yard of a residence.
“It was just a huge rumble and we all ran out,” said Joseph Calaustro, who told Hawaii News Now he was inside the home at the time of the crash. “My dad, the neighbors, we all came running out.”
Police said the woman was ejected from the truck and rolled over by the vehicle.
She was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and later died.
The driver, who Depolito said was Bartlow’s boyfriend, was hospitalized in serious condition and later arrested for investigation of negligent homicide, DUI and driving without a license.
Bartlow grew up in California and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in anthropology, Depolito said.
“It’s just devastating,” Depolito said. Bartlow was “always full of love and light. She made people smile. She was a very loving spirit.”
Bartlow was ranked 12th in the 2015 Stand Up World Series women’s ranking, according to the Waterman League website. In her rookie year, she won the 2014 US SUP surfing tour.