Man killed while changing tire after crash in South Kohala

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiʻi Island police are investigating a traffic collision that claimed the life of a 59-year-old Waimea man on Sunday afternoon.

At 1:22 p.m., South Kohala patrol officers responded to the collision and determined that a black 2008 BMW sedan was traveling eastbound on Kawaihae Road when it veered onto the south shoulder and collided with a parked, unoccupied gold 2004 Toyota Camry sedan that was facing east on the shoulder.

Police identified the victim as 59-year-old Sione Tilini of Waimea.

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.

Tilini 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.

Tilini was transported 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, sustained 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 Waimea man, 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, and 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 was the fourth traffic fatality within five days and the ninth traffic fatality on Hawaiʻi Island in 2026, compared with 12 at the same time last year.