Puna bound traffic on Highway 11 was backed-up from Panaewa to Waiakea as crews cleaned-up a crash scene at Mamakai Street and police conducted an investigation of the crash.
By Baron Sekiya | Hawaii 24/7
As of 6:30 p.m. police are still on scene investigating the crash with the Puna bound lanes of Highway 11 still closed to traffic. Motorists should seek alternate routes. Police hope to have to road open by 7 p.m. to Puna bound traffic.
Hilo bound traffic is unaffected though crews are removing the wreck reducing traffic to one lane.
Police said shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday (Aug 15) two cars were involved in the crash. The red Honda sedan, in photo above, was involved in an incident earlier in the day where a police car was hit with the vehicle.
The Honda was reported as stolen and was travelling west on Mamaki Street when it entered the intersection with Highway 11 and collided with a car travelling in the Puna bound lane on Highway 11.
A male and female passenger of the Puna bound vehicle were taken to the hospital for possibly a broken leg of the woman. Their injuries were reported to be be non-life threatening.
The red Honda sedan was torn apart and the lone male driver suffered minor injuries with cuts and was taken into custody by police and the roadway was opened to traffic after 7 p.m.
UPDATED: 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15
Three people were taken to Hilo Medical Center after two cars crashed about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15 at the intersection of Mamaki Street and Highway 11 in Puna.
According to police, a vehicle on Mamaki Street driven by a male in his 20s was hit by a vehicle driven by a 61-year-old male on Highway 11 headed toward Puna.
Both drivers and an elderly female passenger were taken to the hospital.
Also, police have confirmed one of the vehicles involved in the collision was part of an earlier police pursuit.
Police closed the Puna-bound lanes for more than three hours.
UPDATED Â August 16, 2010
Police have identified the driver of the Honda as Alexander Borrero III who had been wanted by police for multiple bench warrants.
UPDATED: 4:00 p.m. Aug. 16
POLICE MEDIA RELEASE
Big Island police arrested a 32-year-old Hilo man for first-degree negligent injury Sunday (August 15) immediately following a major traffic collision at the intersection of Highway 11 and Mamaki Street in Hilo.
Alexander Borrero III was arrested at the scene of the 3 p.m. collision after witnesses informed investigators that the Honda sedan he was driving on Mamaki Street crossed onto Highway 11 at a high rate of speed in front of a 1990 Toyota Camry, which was traveling in a Volcano-bound lane and hit the Honda. The force of the collision caused the Honda to break in two.
The driver and sole occupant of the Honda, which was reported as stolen, became pinned under the front half of the car. Police officers extricated him from the rubble.
Medics took the driver of the Camry, a 61-year-old Hilo man, his passenger, a 86-year-old Hilo woman, and Borrero to Hilo Medical Center. The driver of the Camry was treated and released for his injuries. His passenger remains at the hospital in stable condition. Borrero is confined to the hospital in serious condition.
Earlier in the day, at approximately 1:45 p.m., police had been investigating two reported sightings of a stolen truck in the Puna area when they first made contact with Borrero. Based on descriptions from witnesses, a man last seen fleeing on foot from the stolen truck was suspected of being inside a Honda parked on the side of Paradise Drive in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
During this contact, the driver of the Honda, in an apparent effort to flee, reversed toward the officer’s vehicle at a high rate of speed, nearly running over him as he stood next to a marked police car. The officer was brushed by the vehicle when his equipment became caught on the car and was dragged a short distance before he was able to free himself. The officer did not require any immediate medical attention.
Officers’ efforts to stop the Honda were quickly terminated when pursuing officers determined that it would be detrimental to the public to continue.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., police began receiving reports of a car driving recklessly in Mountain View. Responding officers located the vehicle near Aloha Estates and attempted to stop it but were unsuccessful, as it sped away. Officers again terminated the pursuit in the Mountain View area and the vehicle continued in the Kea’au direction.
Police elected to follow the car at a distance to monitor its location. Officers looking for the vehicle on Mamaki Street observed the Honda traveling East on Mamaki Street at a high rate of speed as officers headed in the opposite direction. A short time after the Honda passed the officers, it collided with the Camry at Highway 11.
Borrero remains in police custody at Hilo Medical Center while detectives with the Criminal Investigations Section continue their investigation. Police initiated additional criminal cases in connection with this series of events, including a first-degree attempted murder case for the act of backing the Honda into the police officer.
Police ask that anyone who may have witnessed the collision or the events leading to it call Acting Lieutenant Reed Mahuna at 961-2252.Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
