A 24-year-old Waianae man admitted Thursday in Circuit Court to killing a 40-year-old man when he drove the wrong way on the H-2 freeway nearly three years ago.
Jameson Yong faces a maximum jail term of five years and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Glenn Kim on Aug. 27. He remains free on $15,000 bail.
Yong was charged with second-degree negligent homicide following a head-on collision Nov. 19, 2011.
Police said Yong was driving a white 1992 BMW the wrong way when he crashed into a Wahiawa-bound 2005 Toyota Tacoma pickup about a half-mile south of the Ka Uka Boulevard exit.
The driver of the pickup, Lance Miyashiro of Wahiawa, was pronounced dead at the scene following the 2:20 a.m. accident. He was on his way home from his job as a bouncer at the Mai Tai Bar in Ala Moana Center.
The impact caused the pickup to flip onto its side and hit the median. A Jeep Liberty SUV then rammed into the pickup.
Yong, who had to be extricated from his car by firefighters, was taken in extremely critical condition to the Queen’s Medical Center, where friends said he underwent multiple surgeries. He used a cane to walk during Thursday’s hearing.
The SUV driver, a 58-year-old man, was hospitalized in serious condition.
At the time of the accident, Yong, a 2008 graduate of Waianae High School, worked at BAE Systems at Pearl Harbor.
At Thursday’s hearing, Yong said he changed his plea to no contest despite not having a plea agreement with city prosecutors.
In 2012, Yong’s parents, who own the car their son was driving, and their insurance carrier agreed to a $20,000 settlement with Miyashiro’s parents. The $20,000 is the per-person liability limit of the Yongs’ insurance policy.