A late-night hit-and-run on Kewalo Street near Wilder Avenue in Makiki has left a 30-year-old man dead and Honolulu police searching for a driver who never stopped.
The crash happened just after 11:30 p.m. on April 9. Honolulu Emergency Medical Services rushed the man to an emergency room in critical condition, where he later died of his injuries. Honolulu Police Department investigators have opened an active case and are treating it as a fatal hit-and-run.
According to KHON2, police said the pedestrian was crossing outside a marked crosswalk when he was hit by a northbound vehicle that kept going. The description of the vehicle and the identity of the driver are still unknown. KHON2 also reported that Oʻahu has recorded 13 traffic fatalities so far this year, compared with 21 at the same point in 2025, and that HPD’s Traffic Division is leading the investigation.
Anyone with information, including dash-cam or doorbell footage from around the time of the crash, is asked to contact the Honolulu Police Department Traffic Division at (808) 723-3413, or to submit an anonymous tip to CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300. The Traffic Division’s Vehicular Homicide Section typically handles fatal collisions and is canvassing the Kewalo-Wilder corridor for witnesses and video.
Scene details and early findings
Officers say the collision occurred on Kewalo Street near Wilder Avenue, where they closed the area overnight to collect evidence and talk with anyone who might have seen or heard the impact. The station report notes that the victim was crossing outside a marked crosswalk when he was struck by a northbound vehicle that did not stop.
Detectives are reviewing traffic-camera feeds and checking nearby homes and businesses for doorbell or surveillance footage that might show the vehicle or the moments before and after the crash, according to KHON2.
Why this matters
Pedestrian collisions remain a stubborn safety problem in Honolulu and across Oʻahu. The State Department of Transportation tracks and publishes year to date traffic fatality counts on its Safe Communities page as officials debate a mix of enforcement and engineering fixes.
Local leaders and safety advocates have pushed for brighter crosswalk lighting, signal timing changes, and targeted enforcement on busy corridors like Kewalo and Wilder, especially at night, in hopes of cutting down on deadly crashes like this one.
Legal note
Hawaii law requires any driver involved in a collision that causes injury or death to stop, provide identifying information, and offer reasonable assistance. Those duties are spelled out in HRS §§ 291C-12.5 and 291C-14, which form the basis for hit-and-run and failure-to-render-aid charges in serious crashes.
For background on these statutes, see the state code entries on FindLaw and the statute text at Justia.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call HPD’s Traffic Division at (808) 723-3413 or CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300. This story will be updated as investigators release more details.
