So after a weekend of speculating about the veracity of a story that former Maui County Councilmember/future Maui Mayor candidate Mike Victorino had been in an auto collision that involved him hitting two kids–a story apparently first reported by Hawaii News Now, though there is no trace of such a story on their website–The Maui News finally reported on Monday, April 17 that the incident did indeed occur. But don’t worry, the paper’s story took pains to make clear: everyone is doing fine.
“Joycelyn Victorino confirmed Sunday that her husband, Mike Victorino, who previously held the council’s Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat and has announced plans to run for Maui County mayor in 2018, was the driver in the collision, but said that he was not under the influence of alcohol and was not speeding, which matched a statement from police,” the News reported. The paper then quoted Mike Victorino as saying, “I am devastated by this. I hurt for them. And I want them to get a speedy and total recovery. That’s my prayer for the two of them and their families.”
According to the story, Victorino and his wife were driving on West Papa Avenue at 9:30pm on the night of April 13 when “an 18-year-old male and a 15-year-old male stepped into the roadway and attempted to cross toward Luana Gardens, police spokesman Lt. Gregg Okamoto said.” Jocelyn Victorino said the car was going no faster than 25 miles per hour (police added that they did not believe speed or alcohol was a factor in the collision). After hitting the young men, Victorino reportedly stopped and waited for police and emergency personnel to arrive. Both young men sustained “nonlife-threatening injuries,” The Maui News reported.
And that would seem to be that, except for one curious detail. According to the story, the “Initial investigation revealed that the pedestrians were not in a crosswalk at the time of the collision, Okamoto said,” but according to the mother of the older male that was hit, “Her son told her that the teens had been in a crosswalk at the time of the collision.”
Very curious indeed.
Click here to read The Maui News story on the collision.
Photo courtesy County of Maui
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