HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. GALI
PHONE: 961-2332
AUGUST 9, 2006

MEDIA RELEASE (UPDATE)

An autopsy has determined that a 57-year-old man who crashed his car on Kilauea Avenue on Monday (August 7, 2006) died from a heart attack and not from the crash.

The man has been identified as Lester Fujioka of Hilo.

Police received a 12:29 p.m. report of the crash Monday and determined that Fujioka was the sole occupant of a 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck traveling north on Kilauea Avenue. The truck crossed the centerline at Palai Street, clipped a utility pole and struck two parked vehicles.

A Fire Department ambulance took Fujioka to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 p.m. Monday.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers investigating the collision believed on Monday that it might have been caused by a medical condition. An autopsy confirmed that.

Because the death wasn’t caused by the crash, it is not counted as a traffic fatality.