Kailua man, teen ID’d as crash victims
The two people killed when a pickup crashed into a tree on Pali Highway early Sunday were Mark Garcia, 33, and Kamalani Kalama, 13, the city medical examiner’s office said Monday. Both lived in Kailua.
A 15-year-old girl who was also in the truck was hospitalized in critical condition.
Police said Garcia lost control of the truck, which went off the highway and struck the tree. The accident occurred half a mile mauka of Nuuanu Pali Drive on Pali Highway at 12:25 a.m.
Excessive speed was a factor in the crash, police said. Police are still investigating whether alcohol was involved.
Police ask anyone who saw the crash to call traffic investigators at 723-3413.
There have been 26 traffic deaths so far this year on Oahu, compared with 21 at the same time a year ago.
Box containing 2 rocks shuts down traffic
A suspicious package that prompted a call for a bomb disposal squad and blocked traffic near the Gold Bond Building for about 2 1⁄2 hours Monday contained two small lava rocks.
Acting police Lt. Douglas Vollrath said police received a call a little after 4 p.m. from the U.S. Geological Survey’s office, 677 Ala Moana Blvd., saying it had received a suspicious package, a U.S. Postal Service box.
The box was about 5 inches wide by 7 inches long and 2 inches deep with no name except "Abby" and no address except "Fushear, Texas," said USGS safety officer Clarence Edwards, who called for police help.
He said he put the box into a plastic bag, took it outside and put it on the grass near the sidewalk.
Police closed Keawe Street makai of Ala Moana. The bomb disposal squad scanned the box and found it contained only the rocks, police said.
Vollrath said the person who sent the rocks might have felt "guilty" for having taken them from Hawaii.
