KAPA‘A — Police responded to a report of a vehicle hitting a house on Kawaihau Road early Sunday morning. “At first I thought we were being robbed,” said occupant Cheryl Gonzales. “There was a loud noise and I called 911.
KAPA‘A — Police responded to a report of a vehicle hitting a house on Kawaihau Road early Sunday morning.
“At first I thought we were being robbed,” said occupant Cheryl Gonzales. “There was a loud noise and I called 911. That was about 3 a.m. Sunday.”
It wasn’t a robbery, it was a vehicle traveling up Kawaihau Road that crossed the center line and barreled into the Gonzales’ garage.
Along the way, the vehicle took out the Gonzales’ mailbox and hit a pickup that was parked in the driveway to the carport before coming to rest against a shrub planted at the edge of Gonzales’ home between the Laipo and Kahala roads intersection.
The impact on the pickup was great enough to turn it sideways and push it against a van parked inside the carport. The van was shoved against the wall of the garage, uprooting it from its foundation.
“Thank heaven for Good Samaritan neighbors,” Gonzales said. “They were up watching TV when they heard the noise and saw the whole thing from their window. They gave the police the license number and a brief description of the vehicle.”
Gonzales said from their description, she assumed the vehicle involved in the mishap was a truck because of the beeping sound when it was reversed out of the accident scene.
Pieces of debris from the vehicle lay among the smashed car and yard. Though the driver initially left the scene, he did eventually contact the police and returned to the scene of the accident.
“We have to leave it like this until Wednesday when the insurance people come,” Gonzales said.
Because the accident took place on Sunday morning, Gonzales said she missed work because she was unable to get a rental car.
“I prayed all day,” she said. “I was worried about the driver of the car, too. But how was I going to get my kids to school?”
Gonzales said her neighbors offered to take the children to Kapa‘a Elementary School Monday morning.
“I’m so grateful my children didn’t get hurt,” Gonzales said. “They sleep in the living room.”
Gonzales added she was glad it took place at 3 a.m. instead of during the day when the children are up and playing.
“This is what happens when people speed,” Gonzales said. “It’s really bad, but more on the weekends. Up at the Kahala Road intersection, there were two accidents in one week back in April.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
