Man thrown from truck dies

Police arrested on Sunday night the driver of the car that collided with a pickup truck near Sugar King Park in Garapan after the passenger who was thrown from the truck died at the hospital.

Yi Wang, 53, a Chinese music teacher, was served with an arrest warrant at his residence in China Town at 8:03pm on charges of homicide by vehicle and unsafe driving.

The pickup truck’s passenger, Romeo Sumilang, 53, a Filipino, was pronounced dead by a doctor at the Commonwealth Health Center on Sunday at 8:58am, according to traffic investigator Norris Kwon.

Sumilang, a construction worker, reportedly sustained severe head injuries.

At a bail hearing yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho retained the $25,000 cash bail that the court earlier imposed on Wang.

Assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit was appointed as counsel for Wang. Assistant attorney general Emily Cohen appeared for the government.

Preliminary hearing will be on Jan. 15 at 9am.

Traffic investigators determined that Wang, the driver of the blue 2005 Toyota Matrix five-door wagon, caused the three-car crash that happened near Sugar King Park in Garapan on Thursday at noon.

Sumilang was a passenger on the bed of a white 1990 Toyota Hilux pickup truck.

The truck’s driver, Abad S. Santos, 45, a Filipino, was treated at the hospital and was later released.

The truck’s front passenger was Santos’ brother, Arnel S. Santos, 53, who was treated at the hospital due to pain in the chest and lower extremity, and was later released.

The driver of a blue Honda Civic, a 47-year-old local female, was not injured.

According to a report prepared by traffic investigator Kwon, during an interview with police officer Juan Mendiola at the scene, Wang admitted to entering the Chalan Pale Arnold Road after visiting a nearby hardware store, then switching lanes from the outer to the inner lane in his attempt to make a left turn into Kopa Di Oru Street to head to his residence.

Kwon said that Wang was switching lanes from the outer lane to the inner then attempted to make a left turn into an intersection, which altogether is an unsafe distance of less than 100 feet.

Wang’s Toyota Matrix, which was lower than the Toyota Hilux pickup truck, struck the truck’s right side undercarriage, causing it to lose balance, tilting to its left side until coming to a final rest upside down.

Sumilang was thrown off the truck’s bed due to the impact from Wang’s car. Sumilang’s head hit the pavement, causing severe head injuries.

Medics transported Sumilan to CHC’s emergency room, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit for observation with “critical” status and connected to a life support device.

Kwon said he made daily follow-ups on Sumilang’s status at the ICU but there were no signs of improvement.

Kwon said a family member informed him on Sunday morning that a doctor had pronounced Sumilang dead that day.