“I saw the car deliberately drive her into oncoming traffic,” police say as they search for the suspect in the hit-and-run accident on the North Shore

SUNSET BEACH, Hawaii (KHON2) — Honolulu police are still searching for a man who struck a 27-year-old woman in a dark-colored sedan near Sunset Beach around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 24, and then drove away.

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

Kristi Whittingham had only landed on Oahu four hours earlier on Wednesday, originally planning a fun week-long girls’ trip to the north coast.

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

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

“I drove off first and the second I made it I turned around because I heard my friend in front of me say ‘no.’ Then I heard the car accelerate and I turned around just in time to see the car intentionally ram my friend Kristi into oncoming traffic,” Thompson recalled.

“She had so much time to pass and get across. She was right behind me, but the car sped up and just hit her,” she added. “Then he yelled a few words at her and then sped off toward Kahuku.”

Whittingham said she made it across the first lane but remembered the car accelerating and she tried to turn back toward Maika Place.

“The car kind of came across the road, I felt something hit my knee, but I didn’t know I had been hit, there was just so much going on,” Whittingham said through tears. “I looked down and my knee was bleeding, and then I grabbed my knee and realized I was still on the road and tried to limp away,”

A neighbor, a former soldier, heard the loud bang and ran outside toward Whittingham.

“He just held me while holding my knee. It was really scary and overwhelming, but I did my best to stay calm. In that moment, I was just so grateful to be alive. If it had happened a second later, or I had turned later, or the car had gone faster, I wouldn’t be here,” said the former BYU student Laie.

She was admitted to Queen’s Hospital in a critical condition, where she spent two nights and underwent knee surgery.

It was 1:30 a.m. in Utah when her parents received a text from Whittingham telling them she was OK, and she called them on FaceTime.

“She was lying in a hospital bed and said she was fine and there had been an accident,” Kristi’s father, Brady, recalled.

No parent wants to receive a call like that telling them their child is in trouble so far away.

When he heard the story, he was angry that the person had run away.

But after posting on several Facebook group pages and asking witnesses for information, he learned something disturbing: Even local residents had experienced nearly being hit by a car while crossing the street or losing loved ones in the same incident.

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, I was angry and wondered how someone could do something like that. And some witnesses said it looked like he accelerated and drove in their direction and then yelled something. I just can’t imagine a person hitting someone on purpose,” he added.

He went to the scene of the accident and started knocking on doors that had cameras facing Kamehameha Highway. People helped him find a car and he asked others to check their cameras as well.

“All along Kamehameha Highway, you can see where traffic came to a standstill when emergency crews got on the scene, and once the highway was closed, you could see traffic backing up,” he said.

According to police, the accident happened at 7:38 p.m. at the intersection of Comsat and Kamehameha Highway. The dark sedan came from Sunset Beach and headed toward Kahuku.

“I see a lot of cars driving fast. People have said on Facebook that there are so many cars driving fast around here and that people almost got hit. This is not my community, but I think there are ways to make it safer,” said Brady Whittingham.

“One of the witnesses talked about how fast the car was going and how they don’t know how she would have survived if she had been a foot down the road at that point. That’s when you realize you almost lost her,” he added. “But I’m just so thankful that we have her, but it hurts to know that there are so many other families that weren’t as lucky.”

“My message to the driver is that I have great feelings for him,” Kristi said.

“I don’t want to think of anyone as evil enough to try to hit another human being. So my message is that I’m glad to be alive and I hope that no one ever tries to harm another human being in any way again. I don’t know, I really don’t have the right words other than frustration, disappointment, but also gratitude that I’m alive,” she continued.

Brady Whittingham is spending the rest of his time on the North Shore trying to gather more information about the accident, but he also hopes the state and city can do more to ensure pedestrian safety so another family doesn’t get a worse call in the future.

Police said the driver continued north on Kamehameha Highway without rendering aid or providing information.

Witnesses believe that the headlight of the dark sedan on the driver’s side may have been significantly damaged.

According to police, it is not yet known whether speed, drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident.

Anyone with any information should contact HPD’s Traffic Division at (808) 723-3413.