Motorcycle and Car Flip, 2 Killed
Written by Tim Sakahara – tsakahara@kgmb9.com
December 17, 2008 05:06 PM
The crash happened at 12:45 Wednesday morning.
One man involved lived in Salt Lake. The other is a soldier from Florida.
It’s one of the worst crashes police have seen in a while. The Nissan Altima was town bound on Nimitz Highway turning left onto Camp Catlin Road. The motorcycle was Ewa bound on Nimitz. That’s when the vehicles met.
Officers say the motorcycle was going so fast and the impact was so hard that the motorcycle went into the Nissan causing it to flip over.
“It indicates an incredibly excessive amount of speed,” said Lt. Darren Izumo, Honolulu Police Department.
Gregg Gurtiza was driving the Nissan. He worked at the Federal Detention Center near the Honolulu International Airport. His brother said he usually got off work at 10 p.m. but may have had to work later. He believes he was on his way home. The 35 year old was the youngest of four kids.
“He’s the baby brother, just your typical local boy growing up here, into the same type of thing any other kid or adult is into, cars, ultimate fighting that kind of stuff. He’s going to be very missed. It’s the holidays, I’m going to have to return my Christmas present to him so it’s just going to hit us,” said Grant Gurtiza, victim’s brother.
Hours after the crash an army buddy of the man on the motorcycle planted some flowers at the crash scene. He says he was an army medic and had served in Afghanistan. He was single and from Florida. His name is being withheld until his family is notified.
Police are not sure if drugs or alcohol played a factor.
Last Updated ( December 17, 2008 08:13 PM )