Police: Motorist strikes, kills Big Island man trying to change tire along Kawaihae Road

Hawaiʻi Island police are investigating a traffic collision that claimed the life of a man from Waimea on Sunday afternoon, May 10, in South Kohala, as he was changing a tire on the side of the road.

This was the fourth traffic fatality within five days on Big Island roads.

South Kohala patrol responded to the crash on Kawaihae Road (Highway 19) near mile marker 65 at 1:22 p.m. Through the course of their investigation, they determined that a black 2008 BMW 328i sedan was traveling east (mauka) on Kawaihae Road, veered onto the south (Kona side) shoulder and collided with a parked, unoccupied gold 2004 Toyota Camry sedan that was facing east on the shoulder, according to a news release from Hawai‘i Police Department.

At the time of the collision, three individuals were outside the Toyota Camry on the passenger side of the vehicle, changing a front passenger-side tire. Sione Tilini, 59, is believed to have been positioned between and partially underneath the passenger-side wheels of the Toyota when the collision occurred.

The impact caused the Toyota to fall onto him, according to the police report.

Tilini was taken to Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at 2:47 p.m.

Two additional individuals, a 19-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy, suffered minor injuries after being struck when the parked vehicle was pushed forward during the collision. Both were transported to Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital for treatment and later released.

The driver and sole occupant of the BMW, a 22-year-old man from Waimea, was transported to Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital and remains in critical condition.

The BMW driver was arrested on suspicion of:

• Negligent homicide
• Negligent injury
• Driving without a license
• No motor vehicle insurance
• Operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant

The Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Area II Traffic Enforcement Unit has initiated a negligent homicide investigation.

Police ask anyone who witnessed the collision or has information relevant to the investigation to contact Officer Dayson Taniguchi at dayson.taniguchi@hawaiipolice.gov or at 808-326-4646, ext. 229.

This is the ninth traffic fatality on Hawaiʻi Island in 2026, compared with 12 at the same time last year.