2 men dead after SUV loses control, strikes 4 pedestrians in Honolulu parking lot

SUV strikes 4 people in Hawaii parking lot; 2 dead

HONOLULU — An out-of-control sport utility vehicle struck four people in a Honolulu parking lot Thursday, leaving two of them dead.

The two men, ages 68 and 77, were dragged and then pinned under the white Lexus SUV, witnesses and police said. They were pronounced dead after being taken to The Queen’s Medical Center, police said.

Another victim was hospitalized in stable condition, while the fourth was treated at the scene and released.

The driver, a 65-year-old man from Kaneohe, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of negligent homicide, said Lt. David Nilsen.

Witness Jeff Curry told KHON-TV that the SUV had been modified for a driver with a disability. But he said it was being driven a man who wasn’t familiar with how the brake or acceleration pedals had been altered.

The vehicle charged forward, hit a group of people and dragged two of them underneath, Curry said.

“I couldn’t believe it. It’s tragic,” he said.

Curry said he asked other bystanders for help, used jacks to lift up the SUV, pulled out the men and gave them CPR until ambulances arrived.

The accident occurred in the upper parking lot of Treetops Restaurant at Paradise Park in Manoa.

Those injured and killed were among 21 members of the Opukahaia Conclave — a local chapter of the Red Cross of Constantine, part of the Masonic fraternity — who had gathered for lunch, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

The old friends meet at the restaurant a few times a year.

“I guess they had a nice time, and then something like this would happen. It’s really tragic,” Daniel Nishihama, who identified himself as a cousin of one of the victims, told KITV-TV.

Police are investigating.