UPDATE FROM POLICE MEDIA RELEASE 2/9/09

Police traffic investigators have identified a 61-year-old Kealakekua man who died Wednesday (February 4) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Kealaola Street in Kealakekua, South Kona.

The victim was identified as Gilbert J. Ransley of Kealakekua.
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2/5/09

A 61-year-old Kealakekua man died Wednesday (February 4) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Kealaola Street in Kealakekua, South Kona.

Responding to a 12:38 p.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the victim was in the driver seat of an inoperable 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck and that a friend was helping him push the truck from a private driveway onto the county road when it rolled down Kealaola Street, into a ditch and overturned, pinning the victim inside.

Fire Department personnel extricated the victim and took him to Kona Community Hospital, where he died at 6:51 p.m.

It is unknown at this time if alcohol was involved in this crash.

The victim was not wearing a seat belt. while in the vehicle.

His name is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

This is the fourth traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with four at this time last year.