When Wayne Medeiros Sr. learned that his son had been killed in a motorcycle crash the night of Jan. 1, he and his family concluded that the death had been a tragic accident.

Now a second witness has come forward to say she saw a police cruiser pursuing a motorcycle at a high rate of speed in Waipahu that night shortly before 11 p.m. — around the time police said Wayne Medeiros Jr., 36, failed to negotiate a left turn and crashed his 2003 Honda sports bike near the Waipahu-Paiwa street intersection.

And the Medeiros family suspects that the younger Medeiros hadn't been able to make the turn because he was being pursued by police.

"My boy wouldn't just be speeding down Waipahu Street without somebody chasing him," said the elder Medeiros, a truck driver.

Police have said no chase was involved.

Pursuit of a suspect is not against Honolulu Police Department policy, but nationally, critics maintain that too many police pursuits are unnecessary and put public safety at risk. The nonprofit group PursuitSafety says it opposes chases involving nonviolent offenses and advocates a balance between the apprehension of drivers who flee and public safety.

Since the first of the two witnesses spoke with The Advertiser over the weekend, police have said they are looking into the circumstances surrounding the crash, and yesterday contacted the new witness.

"We are continuing to look into the matter," said HPD spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii, who added that Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa "is very concerned and will take whatever administrative action is warranted.

"We are also asking anyone who may have witnessed anything to call HPD Internal Affairs."

Meanwhile, the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office found that Medeiros had methamphetamine in his system at the time of the crash. And the dead man's father said his son had lost his driver's license in a child support dispute and that his son feared that he would go to jail if police stopped him.

Still, the elder Medeiros said his son — an experienced motorcycle rider — didn't deserve to die the way he did.

"Why put his life in danger by chasing him?" he said.

EJECTED FROM CYCLE

Medeiros died after being ejected from his cycle and hitting a large rock and guardrail just outside the parking lot of Waipahu Hall, a retirement home.

Police initially reported that Medeiros had been stopped moments earlier for speeding on Kamehameha Highway. They said as the officer approached Medeiros on foot, the motorcyclist sped away, turning right onto Waipahu Street.

Police said the officer did not give chase and lost sight of Medeiros, but proceeded on Waipahu Street and was looking for the biker when he came upon the crash site and found Medeiros on the ground.

But Doreen Kahinu, who lives on Waipahu Street two-tenths of a mile from the crash site, said she heard her dog howling at the front screen door as the sirens approached that night, and she looked out to see what was going on.

"And then I seen this motorcycle fly past my house, and about a second later (I saw) a police officer — he was about a car length away — chasing the guy," Kahinu said. "And then, maybe five seconds later, I see these two other officers fly past my house, too."

Kahinu said the motorcycle and the cruiser appeared to be traveling about 50 mph along the two-lane roadway, which has a speed limit of 25 mph. She said she did not see or hear the crash.

"What disturbed me was the next morning I was listening to the Channel 9 news and they said there was no police pursuit, and I said, 'There was! I know there was — I seen it.' "

Another Waipahu resident, Charlotte Pagaduan, had reported on Jan. 3 that she saw police pursuing a south-bound motorcycle around 10:55 p.m. Jan. 1, along Kamehameha Highway — between Lumiaina Street and the Waipahu Street turnoff.

Pagaduan said the motorcycle and the cruiser were traveling at a high rate of speed — she estimated it at 70 mph — and that the cruiser appeared to be as close as three feet to the back of the motorcycle.

Like Kahinu, Pagaduan said she became concerned and decided to go public after hearing news accounts that police had not been in pursuit of the biker.

"If the officer is saying he wasn't chasing him, then what was it?" she said at the time.

The cyclist's 57-year-old father said he began having second thoughts about his son's accident after reading Pagaduan's comments in the Jan. 4 Honolulu Advertiser. He has since retained an attorney, he said.

'LOVING SON'

The elder Medeiros described his son as "a big man who had a big heart."

"He was a loving son," said Medeiros of his namesake, who he said weighed around 300 pounds and stood about 6 feet 4. "He had a lot of friends."

But he added that the 1991 Farrington High School graduate and former Northwest Airlines baggage handler had fallen on hard times. He was unemployed, and was having increasing difficulty making child support payments for his six children from two relationships.

Folks living on Waipahu Street said motorists frequently drive too fast along that stretch of road, and that the sharp left turn heading west toward Paiwa Street can be difficult to negotiate even with a yellow light that flashes over a turn arrow after dark.

Tani Agarpao, who lives near the turn, described it as "a dangerous blind curve at night if you're not careful."

Charles Costa, 79, w ho lives at Waipahu Hall, said he saw Medeiros' apparently lifeless body on the ground as police were investigating the crash, but before the ambulance arrived. He said Medeiros and the motorcycle had crashed into a guardrail outside a 5-foot wall surrounding the retirement home parking lot with enough force to send his helmet flying over the partition, landing some 30 to 40 feet inside the parking area.

Costa said it appeared that Medeiros' body had bent one of the posts supporting the guardrail to the left, and that a large rock had been moved more than a foot from where it had previously sat.

On Wednesday, Wayne Medeiros Sr. visited a memorial that had been placed by the crash site. Following that, he went to the mortuary to view the body of his son for the first time since the crash.