A Hilo grand jury has indicted a Honokaa man for a traffic crash 20 months ago near Kalopa that killed two women and injured several other people.
A Hilo grand jury has indicted a Honokaa man for a traffic crash 20 months ago near Kalopa that killed two women and injured several other people.
The six-count indictment charges Alfred Berdon III with two counts each of first-degree negligent homicide, first-degree negligent injury and second-degree negligent injury.
A bench warrant set Berdon’s bail at $32,000.
Police said that at about 4:23 p.m. Sept 10, 2012, Berdon, then 30, was driving a 1993 Nissan pick-up truck east on Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 19) when he collided with a 2005 Ford van he was attempting to pass. The van was run off the highway and went down a 15-foot embankment at Kalopa Gulch.
The van was carrying landscapers for Puna Certified Nursery returning home to Puna from a job in Waikoloa. Dead were 61-year-old Josefina Visaya and 54-year-old Patrocinia Cadang, both of Keaau.
Marilyn Bagaoisan, Marilyn Chavez and Maria Macadangdang, all 46-year-old Keaau women, were critically injured but survived.
Cadang’s husband, 55-year-old Siduro Cadang, suffered a broken arm and broken ribs. Gina Visaya of Keaau, 23, and the niece of Josefina Visaya, 23-year-old J.R. Soriano of Keaau, and the van’s driver, 45-year-old Efren Chavez, whose wife was critically injured, were all treated and released.
Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville, who has since retired, said in September 2012 that Berdon tested positive the day after the crash for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and oxycodone, a semi-synthetic opioid painkiller marketed as Oxycontin.
“That is only based on a urine test,” Damerville said at the time. “That’s a presumptive test; it’s not a lab test. Typically, that would go out to a lab to determine whether or not it’s a false positive, because sometimes, it can be.”
Berdon was convicted in August 2012 for a November 2011 DUI, and failed to have an ignition interlock device installed in his vehicle as ordered and didn’t show up for a proof of compliance hearing Sept. 4, 2012, according to court records, which also show Berdon has been convicted of speeding five times since December 2000, most recently June 25, 2010.
“We have to make sure we can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt; we have a limited period of time,” county Prosecutor Mitch Roth said Wednesday when asked why it took so long to charge Berdon for the collision. “We had (mandatory blood) tests that needed to come back, and once all the evidence came back, all the witnesses were interviewed, we went and did what we needed to do and got the indictment.”
Roth wouldn’t divulge the results of toxicology tests on Berdon’s blood sample.
Josefina Visaya’s 66-year-old husband, Cenon Visaya of Keaau, was also killed in a traffic crash Sept. 27, 2013, a little more than a year after his wife’s death.
Eyewitnesses say Siaiku “Lucky” Aholelei lost control of his pick-up truck while allegedly racing another vehicle, crossed opposing lanes of traffic on Volcano Highway (Route 11) near the entrance of Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii campus in Keaau and ran over Cenon Visaya, who was riding a bicycle in the opposite direction on the highway’s shoulder.
Aholelei was charged with manslaughter and first-degree negligent homicide. He pleaded not guilty, but has a change of plea hearing set for 8 a.m. July 30, according to court records.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.