HPD accused of cover-up in fatal crash

Sounds just like that accident in Kahala where that old lady was killed by the COKE truck. The investigators there ruled it an accident but wondered WHY she walked in front of the truck. HUH? Why she walked in front of the truck.....should be the drivers responsibility to make sure the driveway is clear to drive. JUST PLAIN RIDICULOUS that this comment was made by them.

Remember when ARAKAWA killed that girl while driving impaired? He was walking around at the scene of the crime like nothing!

Then you had the bus driver who killed that father! Driver was driving recklessly according to witnesses and someone was killed yet no blood test was taken.......because the bus driver refused! HELLO someone died!

You gotta wonder sometimes!

"26 to 43" mph doesn't sound like a competent or believable analysis to me. 43 mph is almost twice as fast as 26 mph. Percentage-wise, that's a pretty huge spread.

And then supposedly-precise numbers like "26" and "43" are cited, which makes it seem like it's possible to calculate the speed to a C.H. based on the skid marks. Why not be even more scientific and say "26.47" to "43.02"? Or should I say, even more bogus!

In the best case scenario for the officer, the "don't walk" light was flashing while she was in the midst of crossing.

So, even if he was only going "26 mph", that means he must have been trying to "cut" the light because otherwise, he would have been slowing to a stop at a prudent rate. In that case, there wouldn't be ANY skid marks. But it sounds like he was watching the yellow light on the cross street so he could "cut" the light, rather than looking for pedestrians still in the crosswalk of this very wide street.

Should have GPS units installed relaying live data on all city owned vehicles. This will crack down on speeders (and drunken police joyriders, as in the case of HPD history) literally riding on city money.

Sad, but this is what happens when we live in a bannana republic when the majority public finds mass corruption in all areas of city and county acceptable.

This is horrible. My heart goes out to the family. If skid marks are "unreliable" then they should not be used for ANY case,not those deemed suitable. The Police department should assume responsibility and at least apologize and compensate the family. Police officers, furthermore, are suppose to be role models for those around them and the state; how are we suppose to trust that other operations and divisions are not covering up other "accidents" (such as illegal drug dealing). Police officers and the Police department as a whole are not above the law, and should not use their privileges to investigate a crime scene to their advantage. This is how corruption starts, and we cannot let it persists.

It is always sad when a loved one dies in a traffic fatality. My condolences to the family of Ok Nam Lee.

But for the lawyer (Arthur Park)to state:
"If you're a policeman you're going to go free. You have a license to kill.", is insulting to all Police Officers who work hard every day keeping the streets safe for my family and yours!

"License to kill" give me a brake Arthur Park! You're a lawyer, you have a license to lie and say anything to make money.

hpd officers are crooked big time.

i have gone on about them before here and they have threatened me with bodily harm or worse.

they even threatened to contact my local pd and "call in a favor".

there are many dozens of corrupt acts that are always overlooked and forgotten. corruption and a short memory is a bad combination for hawaii and its' citizens, when it comes to the PD, it is Hawaii's largest and most organized gang.

Lots of blanket statements involving Law Enforcement Officers here. I'm not an Officer for the HPD but in defence of the law enforcement community I have to say that the actions of Peace Officers are always under intense public scrutiny and by our superiors within the department because of the amount of power an officer holds and upholds for every citizen's civil and constitutional rights.
Park's statement is definately aimed at tweaking the public ethos and such rhetoric is to say the least over dramatic.
My heart goes out to the family, the victim--an innocent life tragically cut short, the HPD, and to those who have lost faith in the Law Enforcement community.

Since the only facts I have to go on is what I read here, I believe that something just doesn't seem right.

As far as the police protecting their fellow officers, look around at the elected leaders of this country! When something happens in our schools here the schools CEO has nothing to say, see our lawyers and then nothing happens except the old phrase..... We have to move forward and not look back.

Some things will never change.

Why am I not surprised that it is still going on. Didn't we learn anything from the Arakawa case. You can't hide the truth. If the officer had nothing to hide he would have taken a blood test on the spot to remove all doubt that he wasn't legally drunk. Now if the courts find that the city failed to do the right thing, us taxpapers will stand the jerk again.

In this case, a pedestrian ran into the crosswalk when the NO CROSSING light was flashing, and hence was hit by a car whose driver wasn't expecting a pedestrian to run/dart into the roadway.

Sometimes when people grieve they feel the need to blame someone else, whether or not they're right or wrong.

From my persepctive, I would hate to be the driver of a car when a consenting adult foolishly darts into the roadway when they know they shouldn't. It happens all the time on Kamehameha Highway by where I live, pedestrians are always illegally running across the road, or not paying attention and wandering into the roadway without looking, despite the dangers. Once in a while one is hit, and the unfortunate driver who may even be going the speed limit is then thrust into legal (as well as emotional) problems, even if he or she has been driving very very safely.

Also, it wouldn't take much speed to fatally harm a 73-year-old Asian Woman. On a daily basis, hospitals see people of that same profile die from simple falls-from-standing at home.

No, I don't work for HPD or the City. I'm an average local citizen who has noticed that pedestrians more and more are maybe desensitized to the presence of autos on our roadways and are becoming more and more careless and irresponsible when crossing the crowded roadways here.

People be mindful when you cross the streets!

citizen wrote:

This is horrible. My heart goes out to the family. If skid marks are "unreliable" then they should not be used for ANY case,not those deemed suitable. The Police department should assume responsibility and at least apologize and compensate the family. Police officers, furthermore, are suppose to be role models for those around them and the state; how are we suppose to trust that other operations and divisions are not covering up other "accidents" (such as illegal drug dealing). Police officers and the Police department as a whole are not above the law, and should not use their privileges to investigate a crime scene to their advantage. This is how corruption starts, and we cannot let it persists.

The moment some people hear certain keywords, such as "Politician", "HPD", "celebrity", etc...out come the Conspiracy Theories, Premature Accusations, Pseudo "facts", the "Blame Game" and Sensationalism to support the Conspiracy Theories.

Why not try this. Why not be objective, wait until all of the facts come out and be Fair to those involved before rushing to judgment. How are you going to know what the true Truth is if you've already made assumptions and fixed your end decisions upon these assumptions before all of the actual facts come out? How can you know the whole truth if you've already set your mind based upon heresay, partial facts, Emotions and your Personal Biases and Sterotypes?

"Innocent until Proven Guilty". This is one of the very basic premises of our Judicial System that sets the United States apart from a lot of other countries in terms of Legal Fairness- and we as Americans should be proud of this.

All I hear of the accusations of this driver is Emotions, Finger Pointing, Assumptions, Personal Biases and Stereotypes about a certain Group of People that may or may not even be justified...how can you as an American, with a Constitution that was fought- and died- for by many of our predescessors, logically and in good conscience apply these superficial things to the fate of someone who is innocent until proven guilty? How can anyone apply such terrible Personal Stereotypes, Biases or Prejudices against a certain group of people to a private person and hence pass judgment on any person without all of the facts.

What if the driver truly was going the speed limit and the pedestrian truly did dart into the street like the article says? Don't in your mind convict a person without all of the FACTS in front of you- that only does a disservice to all of society.

SilentDoGood wrote:

Why am I not surprised that it is still going on. Didn't we learn anything from the Arakawa case. You can't hide the truth. If the officer had nothing to hide he would have taken a blood test on the spot to remove all doubt that he wasn't legally drunk. Now if the courts find that the city failed to do the right thing, us taxpapers will stand the jerk again.

You're applying the facts of the Arakawa Case to this case, which is Logically Erroneous.

Arakawa, an off-duty HPD officer, had been drinking alcohol all day until his blood alcohol levels where very high, ie: He was very, very, very drunk, he then got into his vehicle, decided to drive and susequently while heavily intoxicated crashed into the car of Dana Abrose and killed her instanteously.

In this case, this HPD officer was on his way to a Special Duty job in Uniform. Not to make assumptions, but I would guess that he was probably very sober and had not been drinking, as he was on his way to work, probably had a good nights' sleep, had his morning coffee, etc...

Again, it's wrong to apply assumptions, personal biases or prejudices about someone else from another case to the driver in this case. That's not reasonable. Wait for the real facts to come out before Sensationalizing, Assuming and Rushing to Judgment. The truth will end up coming out and that's all that we should want, and that's what Justice means...truth based upon the actual facts rather than Sensationalism.

a turtle is killed..ooh memorial on the news..what about the 18year old Human Being that was killed by a hit and run driver..no one getting upset about that..but a turtle with no brain..oh well..mentality? of humans is strange

As related in the story, the don't walk light was flashing when she darted into the road. The don't walk light flashes *before* the opposing green light changes, so if this story is accurate, the officer deliberately gunned through a red light, and he was in the wrong regardless of how fast he was going.

Lei Iki wrote:

As related in the story, the don't walk light was flashing when she darted into the road. The don't walk light flashes *before* the opposing green light changes, so if this story is accurate, the officer deliberately gunned through a red light, and he was in the wrong regardless of how fast he was going.

The way I read it....the FRIEND walked onto the roadway when the Don't Walk sign was flashing. AFTER THAT, the victim then Ran into the roadway to catch up with the friend. You don't KNOW that the opposing light was still Red or had already turned Green when the victim ran into the roadway. What is known if you assume the article is accurate is that the victim Ran into the roadway SOMETIME AFTER the Don't Walk signal was flashing.

Sazid an elerdly person lost her life. Was the Officer speeding? Not proven... Did the lady enter the cross walk even though the red light was flashing "Yes". As cruel as it seems we as peditirans need to also take responsibility for our actions. Try driving on school street or down town when people just dash in front of your car to catch the bus. It happens everyday. It is all of our responsibility. To say cops are all crooks it a unfair to the fine men & women who protect us everyday. Like in all walks off life you have the good & bad. We all need to be more aware.......sorry grandama you share some of the responbility for enetering the cross walk on red.....

Honor and Protect...

Thy own,

Stinks to me wrote:

Sounds just like that accident in Kahala where that old lady was killed by the COKE truck. The investigators there ruled it an accident but wondered WHY she walked in front of the truck. HUH? Why she walked in front of the truck.....should be the drivers responsibility to make sure the driveway is clear to drive. JUST PLAIN RIDICULOUS that this comment was made by them.
Remember when ARAKAWA killed that girl while driving impaired? He was walking around at the scene of the crime like nothing!
Then you had the bus driver who killed that father! Driver was driving recklessly according to witnesses and someone was killed yet no blood test was taken.......because the bus driver refused! HELLO someone died!
You gotta wonder sometimes!

To this day I don't know what happened at the Coke truck. But it's thinking like yours where drivers are always at fault and pedestrians are always right that's the psychological problem. Once the new law was enacted, many pedestrians felt "empowered" by the new law. Problem was, it could never override the laws of physics.

As far as the Arakawa case, the police really screwed the pooch on that one. No excuses at all.

And as far as the bus driver goes, he was within his legal rights. You and I may not like it, but that's the way it works.

But in this case, something is starting to stink and think there's reason to believe there's a double standard going on.