Thrill seekers tearing up Kahala parking lot spark safety concerns

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Thrill seekers are tearing up a parking lot in Kahala, sparking noise and safety concerns in the community.
As the name would suggest, the parking structure at Kahala Mall is meant for parking. But some nearby residents say that occasionally, some motorists have been using it for other purposes.
In a video given to Hawaii News Now, a red car is on the open top deck of the three-story parking structure next to Kilauea Avenue doing donuts around the light poles and also drifting, leaving tire tracks in its wake.
“I was awfully surprised and quite honestly kinda intimidated by it,” said one resident who didn’t want to be identified.
“If anyone was up there walking… Old people tend to walk up there at times, and you now, if they lost control and they careened into a person or a person on an e-bike or a parked car — that wouldn’t be too good.”
The resident also said a blue car did the same thing on the rooftop deck back in May.
Former HPD Deputy Chief John McCarthy says its fairly common.
“You see a lot of that. You see a lot of videos online a lot of times, guys showing off, even in fairly empty parking lots. Then they’ll lose control, they’ll take out one of the lights for the lights in the parking lot. They’ll hit other parked cars, passengers, observers,” McCarthy said.
The resident says this typically happens late at night just about every weekend, and police have been called.
“Well, they’ve arrived at the scene maybe 10 minutes later and by that time they’re gone,” said the resident.
“Kahala Mall is private property. So Kahala Mall needs to increase their security late at night to stop the speeding and the drifting up there,” said Rich Turbin, a member of the Waialae-Kahala Neighborhood Board.
But there’s one problem: For police to cite the driver, the reckless driving has to be witnessed by an officer.
“It’s difficult because with the video now, you still have to identify the individual,” McCarthy explained. “Just because you have a car, you might even have a license number. Who’s the individual that’s driving? Who’s the individual that’s there at the time? That’s who you need to identify.”
HPD says Kahala Mall has filed a complaint in the latest incident.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.