A 22-year-old Ocean View man has been arrested and charged with offenses stemming from a fatal hit-and-run collision that took place Jan. 19 in Ocean View.
A 22-year-old Ocean View man has been arrested and charged with offenses stemming from a fatal hit-and-run collision that took place Jan. 19 in Ocean View.
Jose Guadalupe-Rodriguez was booked at 1 p.m. Friday in Hilo. He’s charged with manslaughter, first-degree negligent homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with physical evidence for a collision that killed 29-year-old moped rider Ling Oniel.
Guadalupe-Rodriguez’s bail was set at $75,000 and he remains in custody. His case is assigned to Kona Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra and he will likely be arraigned Monday.
According to police, Guadalupe-Rodriguez was driving a sedan north on Paradise Parkway, failed to yield right-of-way at the intersection of Kona Drive and collided with Oniel, who was riding the moped west on Kona Drive at about 7:15 p.m. Jan. 19. After hitting the moped, the sedan’s driver fled from the scene prior to police arrival.
Oniel was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m.
Guadalupe-Rodriguez was indicted March 14 by a Kona grand jury. While charged with both manslaughter and negligent homicide, he can only be convicted of one of the two charges. Manslaughter is a Class A felony that carries a possible 20-year prison term, while negligent homicide is a Class B felony with a maximum 10-year prison sentence. The indictment, however, specifies Oniel as a “vulnerable user” of the moped, which could enhance the sentence for a negligent homicide conviction to 20 years.
According to court records, Guadalupe-Rodriguez was driving with a suspended license when the collision occurred. His license was suspended on Dec. 7 for driving with an improper license and without insurance. On Oct. 29, he was fined $595, which he still owes, according to court records, for delinquent vehicle weight tax, no current safety check, no registration in vehicle, defective taillight, running a stop sign, faulty brakes, broken safety glazing material and overall unsafe condition of vehicle. On Jan. 25, he was sentenced to 20 days for contempt of court on traffic violations.
When arrested for the hit-and-run, Guadalupe-Rodriguez was already in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center, awaiting trial on separate charges of second-degree theft, intimidating a witness and terroristic threatening.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@ hawaiitribune-herald.com.