Driver allegedly ran over woman in confrontation at Nanakuli McDonald's

Honolulu Advertisor
02-01-10
by Suzanne Roig

A Honolulu man was being held in a police cellblock after he allegedly ran over and killed a woman and injured a teenage girl at a McDonald's drive-through in Nanakuli early yesterday morning.

A 20-year-old Wai'anae woman was killed after she and a 15-year-old Makakilo girl confronted the Honolulu driver for honking his horn at them as they got their food at the 24-hour drive-through, police said.

A 45-year-old man who was with the woman and girl was not injured.

The driver of the other vehicle, Albert Birmingham, 36, was charged with first-degree attempted murder, murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, driving under the influence, driving without a license, driving with a revoked license, failure to have no-fault insurance and having an open container.

Birmingham has about a dozen prior traffic violations, including a 2008 charge for driving under the influence, according to court records.

The woman, girl and man were in the drive-through around 3 a.m. waiting for their food at the McDonald's on Farrington Highway near Lualualei Naval Road when the car behind them began honking, police said.

The group received their food, drove to the parking lot and went to confront the man who was still in the drive-through, police said.

The woman and girl were trying to pull the man who was with them away when Birmingham allegedly accelerated and struck the woman and girl, killing the woman. She remained unidentified last night.

Birmingham then allegedly fled the scene but was arrested in front of a home on Holopono Street.

Paramedics took the two females to The Queen's Medical Center, where the woman was pronounced dead. The teenager was treated and released, police said.

McDonald's closed the drive-through yesterday and will decide today when to reopen it, said Franklin Clay, a spokesman for McDonald's.

McDonald's is offering its workers grief counseling, Clay said.

Other businesses in the Nanakuli Shopping Center were closed when the woman was killed.

The center is patrolled by a private security firm 24 hours a day, according to workers at various adjacent businesses. And crimes such as vandalism, spray-painting and fights are common.

"But nothing like a homicide," said Ken Bersamin, manager of Checker Auto Parts. "I was kind of surprised."