A motorcyclist died after sustaining injuries in a crash that occurred apparently while he was attempting to flee from a police officer on Waipahu Street late last night, police said.

The fatality was the third during the first 24 hours of 2009 and the second involving a motorcyclist.

The crash took place near the Waipahu-Paiwa street intersection shortly before 11 p.m. The victim was driving a black 2003 Honda sports bike, traffic police said.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office today identified the victim as Wayne Medeiros Jr., 36, of Honolulu.

Moments before the crash, a patrol officer had stopped the motorcyclist on Kamehameha Highway southbound. While the motorcyclist had stopped, he fled as the officer approached him on foot. The officer did not pursue the motorcyclist but did proceed along Waipahu Street in search of him when he came upon the crash scene, police said.

The motorcyclist apparently failed to negotiate a bend in the road and veered to the right off the road. He crashed into a large rock and a guardrail, ejecting from his motorcycle.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

About three hours earlier, at 8:13 p.m., a man in his late 20s was pronounced dead by paramedics after a motorcycle accident in the 9400 block of Kupuna Loop in the Kunia section of Waipahu about two miles away.

Family members gathered at the Kupuna Loop accident site this morning to erect a memorial. They identified the victim as Michael Galutira, 29, of Pearl City.

The first traffic fatality of 2009 occurred about 4 a.m. in a single-car accident at the intersection of Likelike Highway and Kamehameha IV Road in Kalihi.

The medical examiner's office today identified the victim as Patricia Kekoolani-Tully, 47, of Honolulu.