A 26-year-old Honolulu man killed early Sunday morning by an alleged drunken driver in Kaaawa was a top sponsored skateboarder who made a name for himself in Hawaii and on the San Francisco skate scene, friends said.

Bernardo "Gnardo" Bernard "was by far one of the most talented skateboarders and artists in Hawaii," said Josh Rubalcava, a manager at 808 Skate. "He was an incredible person on and off the skateboard."

Close friend Sean Reilly said Bernard was camping with friends for a graduation party at Swanzy Beach Park and was following a friend on skateboard "to get him home safe," then planned to turn around and return to the campsite but never made it.

"They were so close to where they were going," just 10 feet from the block where the friend lives, Reilly said. Bernardo "flew like 70 feet."

Bernard was Kahuku-bound on Kamehameha Highway near the Crouching Lion Inn and Keo Place when he veered onto the roadway into the path of a Kahuku-bound vehicle when he was struck at about 12:43 a.m.

The friend who was with him recalls turning around and not seeing any headlights, Reilly said.

But Reilly acknowledges accidents can easily happen on that two-lane stretch of highway where walking on the side of the road is scary.

"If you’re skating in the road for a second, you really have no time to react," Reilly said.

Police said alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash.

Police arrested the 24-year-old Laie driver on suspicion of first-degree negligent homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant.

It was the 26th Oahu traffic death this year, compared with 26 at the same time last year.

Reilly said the friend Bernard had followed was "beating himself up," wondering what if Bernard had not followed him.

It was hard for that friend and the others who came upon the scene where Bernard died, he said.

Transworld SKATEboarding posted on Sunday photos of Bernard, including one that caught him flying high in midair on his board, and identifies him as "an S.F. skater," adding that a memorial service will be held on Memorial Day for him, with numerous condolence messages by Hawaii and San Francisco friends and admirers.

Though not a pro, he was definitely one of the top in Hawaii who did a lot of street and technical skating, said fellow skateboarder and friend MacKenzie Yoshida, an 808 Skate employee.

Reilly, 33, said Bernard, his friend for 10 to 15 years, spent about a year in the Coast Guard after graduating from Aiea High School in 2005, then lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and later moved back home.

"People were pretty impressed with him in San Francisco, and he made a name for himself in that skate scene," said Reilly, who visited him there.

"What I liked about his style is he was really humble and unpredictable," Reilly said.

He had a quiet, "superattack style," Reilly said. He’d be "sitting, and out of nowhere he’d look at a big handrail and he’d just do it. He pushes, goes up and does it first try."

Even after a hard fall, Bernard would pick himself up, "get up and smile," like nothing was wrong.

"He was proud that he’d just tested himself, and just walk away from him like it was nothing, where I’d be crying," Reilly said.

He was dubbed "Gnardo" because he was the "gnarliest skateboarder out here," he said. "He wasn’t about the material. Everything was so pure and natural, like a soul surfer. He didn’t do it for material gain."

In4mation, a locally owned chain of apparel shops, confirmed it sponsored Bernard, who on occasion traveled to mainland cities for the company.

Bernard’s true passions were skateboarding and art, Reilly said, adding that family was among them too.

Bernard, an artist who painted acrylics on canvas and graffiti art, had been helping Reilly with artwork for his SK brand of skateboarding stickers and apparel and had created a logo for the brand free of charge for Reilly.

He was "supergood," creating "trippy eyeballs and scenes from another universe," Reilly said. "He was on some other level," reminiscent of Warhol and Basquiat.

His little brother, who "really looked up to him," would sometimes come along on their "skate missions," Reilly said.

The little brother, along with other family members and friends, was out at the crash scene Sunday, Reilly said.

Some people, by the way they live, you would expect to die, but Bernard didn’t fall into that category, he said.

"It was a freak accident," he said.

Reilly is working on a video of Bernard’s skateboarding.