A court document filed by prosecutors identifies a 39-year-old man critically injured in a motorcycle-pickup truck collision Thursday night as Joel Cabel.
Cabel was the rider of a 2005 Honda CBR 600 motorcycle police say was heading toward Hilo on Highway 19 in Wainaku when a 2013 Toyota Tacoma turned left onto the highway from Hau Street, causing the bike to crash into the truck’s rear driver’s side.
Cabel was taken to Hilo Medical Center and then airlifted to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he was listed in stable but critical condition.
Cabel’s mother, Juliet Cabel, on Facebook asked for prayers for her son.
“God is good and hears our prayers,” she wrote. As of late Monday afternoon, her post received 100 comments.
Police arrested the pickup truck’s driver, 48-year-old Joshua Manzano-Hill, at the scene. He’s charged with first-degree negligent injury, DUI, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and marijuana possession.
Court documents filed by police state Manzano-Hill had “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his body and breath” and his eyes “were red, watery and glassy.”
Officers found broken Heineken bottles on the ground near the collision and a Heineken bottle cap was found on the driver’s side floor of the truck, according to documents.
Documents state Manzano-Hill nodded and said yes when told by an officer he had alcohol on his breath, but refused to participate in standard field sobriety tests.
Police obtained a search warrant for the truck and allegedly found 1.6 grams of cocaine and 0.8 grams of marijuana.
Manzano-Hill made his initial court appearance Monday, and Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk denied a defense request to free Manzano-Hill on court-supervised release without cash bail being posted.
Hawk maintained Manzano-Hill’s bail at $31,000 and ordered him to return Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Manzano-Hill remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
According to court records, in a deal with prosecutors, Manzano-Hill pleaded guilty in 2017 to second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, a Class B felony that carries a maximum 10-year prison term upon conviction. In return for his plea, charges of marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia were dropped.
Manzano-Hill was sentenced to a four-year probation term and a year in jail, with nine months of the jail term suspended. Judge Henry Nakamoto granted a deferral of Manzano-Hill’s guilty
plea, and the felony drug conviction was wiped from the record.
In addition, Manzano-Hill was twice convicted of drunken driving, in 2007 and 2014.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
