MEDIA RELEASE

A 48-year-old Kailua-Kona man died Tuesday (November 8) from injuries he sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Hawaii Belt Road (Route 11) at the 99-mile-marker in South Kona.

The driver was identified as Bonifacio Pako Alip, III, of a Kailua-Kona address.

Responding to a 8:19 p.m. call, Kona patrol and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers determined that Alip was operating a 1987 Dodge Ram pick-up truck and traveling north on Route 11 when he lost control and ran off the left side of the road and overturned.

It was raining at the time and the highway was wet and slick.

Two passengers in the vehicle, a 21-year-old Ocean View man and a 24-year-old woman from Kailua-Kona were transported to Kona Community Hospital by Fire Rescue personnel where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

The vehicle occupants were not wearing their seatbelts.

The driver of the vehicle was transported to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:18 p.m.

It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs were involved but speed may have played a factor in this crash.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

This is the 19th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared to 23 at the same time last year.