Police have charged 70-year-old Carlton Inada of Hilo with negligent homicide and failure to render aid following a fatal traffic collision on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, in which a 79-year-old Hilo woman died.
Police responded to a reported traffic collision at 9:51 a.m. Tuesday involving a motor vehicle and a bicyclist on Akolea Road just south of Waianuenue Avenue.
Police investigators determined that a 2016 Toyota Tacoma driven by Inada was traveling south bound on Akolea Road when it struck an orange Recumbent Trike, operated by 79-year-old Barbara Klein of Hilo, who was also traveling south in the south bound lane. Inada left the scene and proceeded to his residence where he notified police that he had struck a cyclist on Akolea Road. He was subsequently arrested.
Klein was unresponsive at the scene and transported to the Hilo Medical Center via ambulance where she was pronounced dead at 10:56 a.m. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.
As the Complaint alleges, Inada was charged with Negligent Homicide in the Second Degree (caused the death of another person by operation of a vehicle in a negligent manner) and Collisions Involving Death or Serious Bodily Injury. Collisions Involving Death or Serious Bodily Injury is a class B felony offense which carries a penalty of either a ten-year prison term or four years probation and up to eighteen months in jail. Negligent Homicide in the Second Degree is a class C felony offense which carries a penalty of either a five-year prison term or five years probation and up to twelve months in jail.
Inada is scheduled to make his initial appearance on Thursday afternoon in Hilo District Court. He remains in custody in lieu of $100,000.00 bail.
The charges are merely allegations and the Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was initiated by South Hilo Patrol. The felony traffic investigation was led by Officer Jerome Duarte, and assisted by Sgt. Jeremy Riddle and Officer Jared Cabatu, Area I Traffic Enforcement Unit, Hawai‘i Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Herbert Mukai.