Driver accused of fatally hitting teen has 164 prior citations, Hawaii records show

A 45-year-old man accused of killing Sara Yara, 16, in a hit-and-run crash as she walked to school has 164 prior citations, Hawaii media outlets reported.

Mitchel Miyashiro also does not have a driver’s license, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Court records show he has 164 traffic citations dating back to 1996 for a variety of infractions, Hawaii News Now reported. He was stopped 12 times in the past five years on suspicion of driving without a license.

Miyashiro faces charges including negligent homicide and fleeing the scene in a hit-and-run crash that killed Sara Yara, KITV reported.

Yara died after being hit by a pickup truck that did not stop while walking to school with her twin sister and friends Wednesday, Feb. 15, KHON reported.

“We thought he was gonna stop,” Phoebe Yara, Sara’s sister, told the station. “He didn’t stop and I turned around. I saw my sister fly and she was hit and she was on the ground.”

“I wish I was the one who died, not my granddaughter,” Alejandra Saniatan, Sara’s grandmother, told KHON.

Miyashiro turned himself in to police Thursday, Feb. 16, Hawaii News Now reported. He was later released while the investigation continues.

“Of course I’m hurt and angry about it,” Chevy Saniatan, Sara’s mother, told KITV about his release. “I need to be patient because it’s in God’s timing.”