Big Island police on Tuesday identified two men killed in separate traffic crashes in January in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision of Keaau.
Big Island police on Tuesday identified two men killed in separate traffic crashes in January in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision of Keaau.
On Jan. 9, Richard Valdez, 55, of Granite Bay, California, died in a single-vehicle crash that occurred at the intersection of Makuu Drive and 2nd Avenue, according to the Hawaii Police Department. Officers determined that Valdez was traveling east on Makuu Drive in a 2020 Jeep Wrangler with a removable top at a high rate of speed when it crossed the center line at the 2nd Avenue intersection and struck a utility pole on the west bound shoulder. He was ejected from the Jeep as it flipped.
On Jan. 15, Ryan Starrett, 32, of Keaau, died in a two-vehicle collision that occurred at the intersection of Makuu Drive and 24th Avenue. Starrett was operating a 2013 Honda motorcycle traveling south on 24th Avenue and failed to stop at a stop sign posted at the Makuu Drive intersection, broadsiding a 1999 Nissan Frontier truck, according to police.
Traffic investigators are awaiting toxicology results for both incidents to determine if alcohol and/or drugs were factors in the crashes.
Anyone with information about either traffic crash should call the East Hawaii Traffic Unit at (808) 961-2339. Those who prefer anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.
