PVC pipes resembling improvised explosive devices discovered during crash investigation

Maui police evacuated nearby residents and closed area streets following a single vehicle accident in which police, while conducting a crash investigation, discovered two PVC pipes resembling improvised explosive devices within the involved vehicle.

The incident was reported at around 7:41 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, on the 600 block of Liholiho Street in Wailuku.

A preliminary police investigation reveals that the operator of the 1996 Buick Le Sabre sedan, a 17-year-old male from Captain Cook, Hawaiʻi, lost control while traveling eastbound on Liholiho Street.

The vehicle collided into a rock wall along the driveway of a nearby residence.

After the collision, the operator, and his three occupants–a 20-year-old Wailuku woman, a 16-year-old Wailuku male, and a 13-year-old Kahului male–were able to exit the vehicle before it caught on fire.

Area residents and fire personnel were able to contain and extinguish the blaze.

All four vehicle occupants were transported to the Maui Memorial Medical Center Emergency Room for further treatment.

As patrol officers conducted the motor vehicle collision investigation, they found the devices within the vehicle. . 

At approximately 8:46 p.m., the Hawaiʻi Inter-Island Bomb Squad – Maui unit arrived on the scene and observed one of the PVC pipes with rubber end caps on the rear passenger seat and the second pipe on the floorboard below.  

Bomb technicians were able to remove the first IED, which contained unknown components, and obtained an X-ray of the device, which was found to be empty.  The second device was capped on one end and open on the other; further investigation revealed neither device contained any powered residue.

Police say both devices will be destroyed at a later date.

At approximately 10:54 p.m., all roads were reopened, and residents were allowed to return to their homes.