The two people who died Thursday when a stolen vehicle being pursued by police crashed into another car in Hilo have been identified.
Police on Friday identified the woman passenger in the stolen vehicle as 20-year-old Alicia Andres of Hilo.
“Yesterday was a sad day…. god gained another beautiful young angel….. RIL Alicia Love Andres u will be truly missed,” wrote one poster on Facebook four hours before police released her name.
Wrote another, “i love you Alicia Love Andres ‘KULLAH’ left too soon.. god will take care of you now.. i just cant believe it…death sucks… just hope u didnt suffer before your last breath.”
Police said the driver of the stolen car was a 17-year-old boy. His name won’t be released because he was a minor.
An autopsy conducted Friday morning determined both died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Police responded to a report of a car theft and possible kidnapping on Kekaulike Street in Downtown Hilo early Thursday afternoon. The car’s owner said his friend was sleeping in the car and might have been abducted, but as it turned out, the friend was able to escape when the car was taken.
An officer stopped the car at the intersection of Kaumana Drive and the Mohouli Extension, but when the officer got out of his car to approach the stolen sedan, it sped away to the south, police said. The officer pursued the car, lost sight of it momentarily, then came upon the crash of the stolen car and another sedan on the extension near Kukuau Street.
Witnesses told police the driver of the stolen vehicle lost control and the car crossed the center line, slid into the other sedan and overturned.
The 39-year-old Keaau woman who was driving the other vehicle and was critically injured was identified in a police log as Robin Cheney. She’s a nursery worker at Yamamoto Dendrobiums in Mountain View. Koichi Ichihara, Cheney’s supervisor, said Friday the woman suffered numerous broken bones and was in Hilo Medical Center’s intensive care unit.
He didn’t have an update on her condition nor did police release one Friday.
Three investigations were opened — one into the crash, another into the auto theft and an administrative review, which is standard procedure in any police pursuit.
“We’re still in the preliminary stages of this investigation, but as I know right now, there was only one officer involved,” said police Maj. Randy Apele, commander of Area I operations in Hilo.
“We only conduct motor vehicle pursuits when it is reasonably safe to do so and under conditions where apprehension of the suspect outweigh the danger imposed,” Apele said when asked about department policy concerning police pursuit.
It’s been almost 16 years since a fatal collision occurred involving a car being pursued by police.
On Sept. 7, 2000, 31-year-old Ellison Sweezey of Hilo was killed when the car she was a passenger in was struck by a driver being pursued by police who ran a red light at the corner of Kanoelehua Avenue and Makaala Street.
The 20-year-old driver, Richard Rosario, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter.
Police began the pursuit on Highway 130 in Puna when an officer saw Rosario speeding recklessly, crossing double-solid center lines marking a no-passing zone and overtaking vehicles on the right-hand shoulder. Rosario refused to stop and officers pursued him 12 miles before the stolen Nissan sedan he was driving broadsided the car Sweezey was in during busy afternoon traffic by Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Sweezey’s family sued and a jury came back with a $5.6 million award in 2005 and the county was found responsible for a third, $1.9 million.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
