WAILUKU, Maui (KITV4) -- Maui police officer found multiple items that they thought were improvised explosive devices (IED) in a car while responding to the scene of an accident in Wailuku, Tuesday night.
According to police, around 7:41 p.m., a 17-year-old driver lost control while traveling eastbound on Liholiho Street and crashed into a rock wall of a nearby home.
The driver, from Captain Cook, and his three passengers -- 20-year-old Wailuku woman, a 16-year-old Wailuku man, and a 13-year-old Kahului boy, were able get out of the car before it caught on fire.
Both area residents and fire crews were able to contain and extinguish the fire.
All four people in the car were taken to the Maui Memorial Medical Center Emergency Room to be treated. Their condition is not known at this time.
As officers investigated the crash, two PVC pipes resembling IEDs were found inside the car. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, and area streets were closed temporarily.
Around 8:46 p.m., the Maui unit of the Hawaii Inter-Island Bomb Squad (HIBS) arrived on the scene and found one of the PVC pipes with rubber end caps on the rear passenger seat and the second pipe on the floorboard below.
Bomb technicians were able to remove the first IED, which contained unknown components, and obtained an X-ray of the device, which was found to be empty. The second device was capped on one end and open on the other; further investigation revealed neither device contained any powered residue. Both devices will be destroyed at a later date.
At approximately 10:54 p.m., all roads were reopened, and residents were allowed to return to their homes.
No further information is available at this time.
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Kathryn spent the last decade in the Bay Area working in nonprofits, education, and communications consulting. She has a B.A. in English from St. Mary's College of CA and an M.A. in Public Affairs and Politics from the University of San Francisco.
