Police officer cleared of teen's death

An 18-year Hawaii police veteran who was behind the wheel of a squad car when it struck and killed a 16-year-old pedestrian in January is back on the job.

According to Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz, the officer — who was placed on paid administrative leave following the Jan. 5 crash that killed Hilo High School junior Samuel Mwarey — was cleared of any wrongdoing in the part of an investigation into the accident carried out by a third party. consultant, as well as an administrative investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Standards, the department's internal affairs unit.

“The officer was on administrative leave for several weeks, until she received the treatment she needed to be allowed to return,” Moszkowicz said. “Before someone returns from a critical incident, we ensure they are mentally, physically and emotionally prepared to fully perform their job. »

Police said Mwarey was in the roadway, not in a crosswalk, wearing dark clothing on a rainy night in a poorly lit area of ​​Kapiolani Street in Hilo, between the YMCA and Hawaii Care Choices, when he was struck around 10:24 p.m. by the blue and white, 2008 Ford Crown Victoria sedan.

Mwarey died at 12:16 a.m. Jan. 8 at Hilo Medical Center.

Moszkowicz said the East Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit conducted a preliminary investigation into the crash “to give us a baseline of what they think happened.”

According to Moszkowicz, a mainland contractor, Mills Consulting, was hired to carry out “independent post-accident reconstruction.”

“Many factors make visibility very difficult for the driver of the vehicle,” Moszkowicz said. “For me it comes down to what the consultant said in his report, which is based on all of these factors, the composition of the road surface and the condition of the vehicle and all of these things. With the vehicle's headlights on and in the dark, the average recognition distance for a person traveling at the speed limit would be 75 feet for them to see the person. And the average distance to avoid something they saw would be 97.5 feet.

The chief said there were surveillance cameras in the area, but none covered the part of the street where the fatal collision occurred. He said the officer's body camera was also activated, but it only provided a view from the steering wheel of the police car when the crash occurred.

It did not provide a view of the dashboard and the crash data recorder – also known as the “black box” – was not activated by the impact of the crash. The investigators therefore carried out what is called a “time over distance calculation”. ” of the sedan's speed using surveillance video from the cruiser, Moszkowicz said.

“The speed limit in this area is 35 miles per hour,” he said. “And (based on) the time-over-distance calculation from the camera closest to where the accident occurred just before the accident, the police car was going 25 miles per hour. So we don't think speed is a factor. And the calculations, based on the vehicle's speed, show that the driver of the vehicle would not have been able to see and be able to reasonably avoid the collision.

The officer, who has not been publicly identified by police, was not under the influence of any intoxicants, according to Moszkowicz.

“His blood alcohol level was zero.”

A toxicology report for Mwarey found he had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent, nearly 2.5 times the legal threshold for intoxication, Moszkowicz said. The teenage pedestrian also had cannabinoids in his system, according to the chief, indicating previous use of marijuana or cannabis concentrate.

The video reviewed by investigators contains another possible contributing factor to the collision, Moszkowicz said.

“A few minutes before the accident, we had surveillance footage in the neighborhood of several young people, skateboarding on Kapiolani Street,” he said. “It’s dark and raining and they’re all wearing dark clothes. We have several witnesses who said it looked like they were jumping on and off the sidewalk with their skateboards. We also have a report of someone driving through the area several minutes before the accident.

“The witness observed these children and described it as playing chicken with cars. Whether that's what happened in the accident or not, I don't know.

Moszkowicz said the officer “did the right thing” after the collision.

“She stops there. She provides first aid,” he said. “She calls her supervisor, she immediately contacts the dispatcher, tells him where she is and she needs an ambulance because she was involved in a collision. When the patrollers arrive on site, the scene is preserved.

“Whatever the factors, this is a tragedy. It's horrible every time someone dies for one of our agents to be involved. And for the victim to be so young with a full life ahead of her, no one wins.

Friends and family have erected a memorial to Mwarey, who was a popular student and aspiring football player at Hilo High, and many social media posts reference the search for “Justice4Sam” and “Justice for Sammy,” including at least one alleges a police cover-up. regarding his death.

Mwarey's father, Wilfred “Waion” Prens, posted a video on Facebook on June 2 of someone driving on Kapiolani Street after dark.

“I can still see. They said it was dark,” he wrote. “Where is the darkness. Get lights you can see clearly. It is a very narrow road. I drive back and forth trying to make sense of this night. Nothing makes sense. You can see everything. How can you not see my son. I miss my son so much.

A GoFundMe page, which can be found on the site by searching for “Mwarey,” has raised $10,600 of a $25,000 goal to help cover medical and funeral costs. Mwarey's older brother, Stan Mwarey, is the beneficiary.

“I am asking everyone reading this to share whatever you can for his medical expenses. Also please share and repost this and spread it to everyone, pray and support Sam,” he wrote.

Email John Burnett at [email protected]