POLICE BEAT
Hawaii crash victim leaves wife, infant
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A Kane'ohe man killed Friday night in a head-on collision on the North Shore that left a young woman badly injured has been identified by his family as Kyle Newalu, 33.
Family members, who knew him as "Kapono," said Newalu had been married for a year and had a 7-month-old son, Keith Kalae'oku'u. He also had a daughter, Raven Wood, 11, from a previous relationship.
Newalu's wife, Jessica, 33, was in San Diego at the time of the accident and returned to Hawai'i yesterday afternoon.
Newalu's brother is martial arts fighter Edward "Kelii" Newalu.
Kyle and his family lived with his mother, Carnation Newalu, in a large house on Apuakea Street. Many relatives and friends gathered at the home yesterday and Carnation Newalu said the family was taking the death very hard.
The city medical examiner's office last night had not identified the man who was killed.
The collision happened shortly before 7 p.m. Friday on Kamehameha Highway between Kahuku and Turtle Bay, about 415 feet east of Marconi Road, Honolulu police said.
According to police, a gray 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup truck driven by the Kane'ohe man collided with a four-door, silver 2008 Chrysler 300 driven by a 21-year-old North Shore woman.
The woman, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. She suffered "broken arms and legs" according to police. Her condition was later upgraded to serious.
Police said the pickup was traveling east-bound on the highway when it tried to overtake another vehicle. The pickup crossed the center lane into the west-bound lane of traffic, and continued onto the west-bound shoulder before veering back on the highway, where it crashed head-on into the Chrysler.
Witness Mitch DeGeus of Kailua said he was driving from the North Shore toward Windward O'ahu when a pickup passed his vehicle, then another vehicle before colliding with the oncoming Chrysler.
Police said air bags in both vehicles deployed. They said the driver of the pickup, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said speed was a factor in the collision, but it is not known if drugs or alcohol were involved. Kamehameha Highway was closed in both directions at the scene during the initial investigation. The road was closed for hours.
The death was the fourth traffic fatality of the year compared with one at the same time a year ago, police said.
Newalu, a 1992 Kahuku High School graduate, was described by family as a quiet, fun-loving guy with a big smile who was into offroad motorcycling. His mother said Kyle Newalu had been employed by Hawaiian Airlines for 13 years in the baggage department.
But she said her son had been excited lately about the prospect of becoming a flight attendant. She said he had successfully passed the required interviews, and was to start the six-week flight attendant training program tomorrow.
"He thought it was surprising that he made it into the flight attendant classes because he's quiet and shy, and he doesn't speak too much," she said. "He applied for the flight training program and made it. He had to go through three interviews."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
