MEDIA RELEASE

A 20-year-old Captain Cook woman died Sunday (September 4) from injuries she sustained in a two vehicle head-on collision on the Hawaiʻi Belt Road (Route 11) just south of the Kamehameha III Highway intersection.

She has been identified as Breanna Fujimoto of Captain Cook.

Responding to a 1:27 p.m. call Saturday (September 3) Kona Patrol officers determined that a 2016 Honda sedan operated by Fujimoto had been traveling south on Hawaiʻi Belt Road when it crossed the centerline of the roadway and was involved in a head-on collision with a 2015 Nissan SUV traveling north and operated by a 38-year-old Kealakekua woman.

Fujimoto was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where she pronounced dead at 4:19 a.m. Sunday (September 4).

The driver of the SUV and her children, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were also taken to Kona Community Hospital. The woman and the girl were treated and released from the hospital. The boy was transferred to The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu and was listed in stable condition.

It is not immediately known if speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.

The Traffic Enforcement Unit has initiated a coroner’s inquest investigation and is asking for anyone who witnessed the crash to call Officer Justin Hooser at 326-4646, extension 229. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.

This is the 20th traffic fatality this year compared with 15 at this time last year.