Hawai’i Island police are asking for the public’s help in piecing together a traffic incident that occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 24, 2022, on Kuakini Highway, south of Sea View Circle, in Kailua-Kona that left a moped driver critically injured.

Around 3:04 a.m. officers received a report of a blue Kymco moped lying on the ground within the southbound shoulder lane of Kuakini Highway. Arriving officers located a man lying on the ground within the southbound shoulder lane a short distance from the moped. The man, later identified as 61-year-old Robert Tinao of Kailua-Kona, was the apparent operator of the moped.

Tinao was taken to the Kona Community Hospital and later transported to the Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu for further treatment of his injuries, where he remains in critical but stable condition.

After reviewing the scene and evidence, officers believe that the moped was rear-ended by another vehicle causing Tinao to be ejected from the moped.

Police are urging anyone who may have witnessed the traffic incident or who has information about it to contact Officer Andrew Walters at (808) 326-4646, ext. 253, or via email Andrew.Walters@HawaiiCounty.gov. They may also call the police department’s non-emergency phone number at (808) 935-3311. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.