Honoapiʻilani collision in Waikapū claims life of Kahului man

Update: 9:34 a.m., April 12, 2025

The victim has since been identified by police as Julius Ponce, 43, of Kahului.  The Maui Police Department extended condolences to Ponce’s family and friends.

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A Kahului man suffered fatal injuries in a deadly two-vehicle crash on the Honoapiʻilani Highway in Waikapū on Thursday afternoon.

The incident was reported at 4:07 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, 2025 on the highway, approximately 0.4 miles north of Alohi Ui Street.

A preliminary police investigation reveals that a gray 2022 Ford Explorer was stopped in the Lahaina-bound lane of Honoapi’ilani Highway, waiting to make a left turn into a farm road.  At the same time, a beige 1988 Toyota pickup was traveling Lahaina-bound on Honoapi’ilani Highway; it failed to observe the stopped Ford and attempted to stop before colliding into the rear of the Ford, according to police.

As a result of this collision, the operator of the Toyota, a 43-year-old Kahului man, sustained critical life-threatening injuries and was transported to the Maui Memorial Medical Center Emergency Room for treatment, where he later succumbed to his injuries and died.

The operator of the Ford, a 67-year-old Spreckelsville woman, and her passenger, a 9-year-old Pukalani boy, were not injured.

Police say the involvement of alcohol, speed and drugs is pending as the investigation is still ongoing.

This was Maui County’s seventh traffic fatality of 2025, compared to four at the same time last year.