‘I watched the car intentionally hit her into oncoming traffic,’ police search for North Shore hit-and-run suspect

SUNSET BEACH, Hawaii (KHON2) – Honolulu police are still searching for a man who was driving a dark colored sedan that hit a 27-year-old woman near Sunset Beach on Wednesday, July 24, around 7:30 p.m. and then took off.

The incident happened at 7:38 p.m. near the Comsat Access Road, Maika Place, and Kamehameha Highway intersection.

Kristi Whittingham had just landed on Oahu four hours earlier on Wednesday, for what was supposed to be a fun week-long girls trip on the North Shore.

“On Wednesday night we were just walking home from Sunset Beach and we were heading to our house on Comsat and we left the beach intentionally early so we could get home before it got really dark,” explained Whittingham’s friend Lexi Thompson.

They reached Maika Place and waited over a minute for the cars to pass through. Then they saw a window to cross Kamehameha Highway.

“I went first, and I started to go and the second I made it across I turned around, because I heard my friend in front of me say ‘no,’ then I heard the car speed up and I turned around just in time to watch the car intentionally hit my friend Kristi into oncoming traffic,” Thompson recalled.

“She had so much time to pass and get over, she was right behind me but the car sped up and just hit her,” she added. “Then he yelled some choice words at her and then took off towards Kahuku.”

Whittingham said she made it past the first lane but remembered the car speeding up and she tried to pivot back towards Maika Place.

“The car kind of swerved across the lane, I felt something hit my knee, but I didn’t realize I had been hit, there was just so much going on,” Whittingham said while tearing up. “I looked down, and my knee was bleeding, and then I grabbed my knee and I realize I’m still in the street and tried to hobble off,”

A nearby neighbor, who is former military, heard the loud bang, and ran outside towards Whittingham.

“He was just holding onto me while I was holding my knee, and it was just really scary and overwhelming, but I did my best to stay calm, but I just felt so grateful in that moment to be alive, because if it was a second later, or I turned later, or the car was driving faster, I wouldn’t be here,” the former BYU Laie student said.

She was taken to Queen’s in critical condition where she spent two nights at the hospital and underwent knee surgery.

It was 1:30 a.m. in Utah when her parents got a text from Whittingham saying she was okay, and then she called them via FaceTime.

“She was in a hospital bed, and she said she was okay and there was an accident,” Kristi’s dad Brady remembered.

It’s a phone call no parent ever wants to receive, that their child is in trouble so far away.

Once he heard the story he was angered by the fact the person took off.

But after posting on several Facebook group pages asking witnesses for information, he learned something alarming—even locals had experiences with almost being hit by a car crossing the street, or lost loved ones doing the same thing.

Her parents flew in from Utah on Friday when Kristi was released from the hospital.

“When I found out it was a hit-and-run, you’re angry, and you wonder how someone could do that? And some witnesses said it looked like he sped up and went towards her direction, and then yelled something, I just can’t imagine a human intentionally hitting someone,” he added.

He went to the scene of where it happened and started knocking on doors that had cameras facing towards Kamehameha Highway. People have been helping him try to narrow down a car and he’s asking for others to check their cameras too.

“Anywhere along Kamehameha Hwy, you can see where the traffic stops, when first responders were there, and once the highway was shut down, you’ll see traffic start to back up,” he said.

Police said it happened at 7:38 p.m. at the Comsat and Kamehameha Hwy intersection. The dark colored sedan was coming from Sunset Beach and driving towards Kahuku.

“I do see a lot of cars going fast, people on Facebook have been saying there’s so many cars that go fast near here and have seen people almost get hit, and this isn’t my community, but I think there are ways it could maybe be safer?” Brady Whittingham said.

“One of the witnesses talked about how fast the car was going, and how if she had been one-foot more in the road at the time, that they don’t know how she would have survived, so then you realize you were so close to not having her,” he added. “But I’m just so grateful we have her, but it hurts knowing there’s so many other families who haven’t been so lucky.”

“My message to the driver, I have a lot of feelings towards him,” Kristi said.

“I don’t want to assume someone is evil enough to try and hit another human, so I guess my message is, I’m lucky to be alive, and I would hope no one ever try and harm any other person in any way again. I don’t know, I don’t really have the right words to say other than frustration, disappointment, but gratitude that I’m alive as well,” she continued.

Brady Whittingham is spending the remaining time on North Shore trying to get more information on the crash, but also hopes the state and city can do more when it comes to pedestrian safety, so another family doesn’t have to get a worse phone call in the future.

Police said the driver continuing to travel northbound on Kamehameha Highway without rendering aid or providing information.

Witnesses believe the dark-colored sedan should have severe damage to the driver’s side headlight.

Police said at this time, it is unknown if speed, drugs, or alcohol are factors in the collision.

If anyone has any information, contact the HPD Traffic Division at (808) 723-3413.