Herk Freitas was driving from Hilo to Kurtistown just after midnight Wednesday when he saw cars in front of him begin to swerve.
Herk Freitas was driving from Hilo to Kurtistown just after midnight Wednesday when he saw cars in front of him begin to swerve.
He soon found out what they were trying to avoid when he hit a large rock — half the size of his Chevrolet Trail Blazer’s 20-inch rims, he estimates — on Highway 11 near Macadamia Road.
The large rock, one of at least four in the roadway, damaged his front driver-side rim, peeling part of it away from the tire like a can opener.
“The whole car just lifted up,” he said.
Freitas wasn’t alone. He said several other cars were also damaged and pulled off the highway.
Police say it’s also not the only incident of its kind they’ve responded to this week.
In a statement released Thursday, police said they responded to several accidents around 2 a.m. in the Hilo area involving vehicles hitting football-sized rocks in roadways. Three were on Highway 19 near Alae Cemetery, and one was on Haihai Street.
Each of the incidents occurred in relatively flat areas, which makes it unlikely the rocks were washed into the roadways, despite the recent heavy rains.
Police supervisors weren’t available for comment Friday, but a spokeswoman said the department is trying to determine if the incidents are related, and if any “suspicious activity” was involved.
In the release, police asked drivers to use caution when driving in early-morning hours and to report suspicious activity by calling the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.
The spokeswoman said the incident reported by Freitas wasn’t mentioned in the Thursday press release because officers responded from Puna, rather than Hilo, and it wasn’t recognized as a significant event since it was believed to have been isolated.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune- herald.com.