A 78-year-old man has died after reportedly being pinned against a dump chute at at the Keaau Transfer Station.
The accident was reported at 11:12 a.m. Friday and firefighters were on scene at 11:21 a.m. Police said the victim, Gary S. Ambrose, of Keaau, was facing west at a trash chute to dump garbage when he was struck by a 1990 Dodge van operated by 66-year-old Perla Whitehawk-Taylor, of Hilo.
When they arrived they found a bystander and police officer performing CPR on the man, who had partial amputation and “lots of blood loss,” according to the department’s press release.
They continued CPR until they ran an EKG monitor strip on the man and a doctor at the base station declared he was dead. He was officially pronounced dead at 2:40 p.m. at Hilo Medical Center.
The firefighters also assessed Whitehawk-Taylor “who wasn’t feeling well due to incident that had occurred,” according to the department. She was also taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released to the custody of police, who arrested her on suspicion of first-degree negligent homicide and driving under the influence. She remains in police custody while police continue the investigation.
The county closed the transfer station Friday. Normal operations are expected to resume Saturday.
Because this collision didn’t occur on a public highway, it is not counted as a fatality for statistical purposes.