Bicyclist Who Died Identified as Member of Mayor’s Family

Big Island police today identified the man who was run over by a truck Saturday morning in Hilo as 58-year-old Darwin E. Barve of Hilo.

Barve is a close relative of Mayor Billy Kenoi, with the two sharing the same mother.

Having a different father, which means the two are half-brothers, is not a significant difference to Kenoi, a spokesman for the mayor’s office said.

“Billy considers him to be his brother,” the spokesman said.

Darwin Barve.

Barve was riding a bicycle north on Route 19 just north of Pukihae Street, in the vicinity of Bayshore Towers, when his bike struck the sidewalk of a bridge. Barve then fell over into the roadway where he was struck by a 1995 International semi-truck also traveling north.

Barve was taken to Hilo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m., about two hours after the incident occurred.

It was not yet known if speed, alcohol or drugs were involved on the part of the truck’s driver, but police said officers did detect an odor of alcohol on the bicyclist.

The driver of the truck, a 66-year-old Hilo man, was not injured.

An autopsy has been ordered in the case.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Officer Tuckloy Aurello at 961-8119.

This was the third traffic fatality of the year compared to two at this time in 2013.