The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office has identified a 70-year-old man who died in a truck crash earlier this month as Juanito Torres Sr. of Kalihi.
The cause of death is pending investigation, the office said.
Police said Torres was driving a pickup on Poko Road in Aiea at about 8:35 p.m. Oct. 3 when he veered off the road and crashed into a rock wall on Kealaluina Drive. He was taken to Pali Momi Medical Center where he died Oct. 7.
The incident was the 43rd traffic fatality on Oahu this year compared with 39 at this time last year.
Man’s body found on Hawaii island
Hawaii island police have opened a murder investigation in connection with the recovery of a Kona man’s body.
On Sunday police received an anonymous tip about a possible murder in Kailua-Kona, according to a news release. Two days later police found a burial site off Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 190). Police then secured the area overnight and recovered the body Wednesday morning, the release said.
The victim has been identified as Alanaokala Solomon Covington, 36, of Kailua-Kona.
An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death is scheduled for today.
Police ask anyone with any information about this case to call the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Detective Jerome Manuel at 326-4646, ext. 262. Email may be sent to jerome.manuel@hawaiicounty.gov.
Fires hit 2 Big Island structures
Hawaii island firefighters responded to two separate structure fires in Keauhou and Pahoa on Wednesday.
No injuries were reported.
The Keauhou fire occurred at a single-room residence on a coffee farm in Honalo. Eighteen firefighters responded to the blaze shortly after 10 a.m., according to a news release. It was extinguished at 11:15 a.m. Damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $50,000.
The second fire occurred at at a single-story structure in Pahoa at 3:35 p.m. Nineteen firefighters extinguished it within about 20 minutes. Damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $104,000.
