Filipino, 73, who held three jobs, killed by hit-and-run driver in Hawaii
Agustin Dela Cruz (right) celebrating his 73rd birthday with co-workers at Fleetwood’s on Front Street last year. He was killed after a hit-and-run driver him from behind while he was riding his bicycle home from work on Saturday night, Jan. 29. CONTRIBUTED
WAILUKU, Hawaii — A 73-year-old Filipino who worked three jobs to support his family in Hawaii and the Philippines was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he biked for home on Saturday night, Feb. 29.
Agustin Dela Cruz, of Lahaina, was riding his bicycle home after work Saturday night when he was struck from behind by a truck and killed.
Dela Cruz, the father of six, had two full-time jobs and one part-time job and helped provide for his 20 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, including some in the Philippines.
“He is the last one to go home,” his daughter-in-law Feline Dela Cruz told Maui News. “He is a workaholic. He works so hard.”
Dela Cruz’s son Allan Dela Cruz, said they often told their father to stop working too much as he was getting old. “He said, ‘I will provide everything, what you guys need, until my last.’”
Dela Cruz worked full time as a dishwasher at Fleetwood’s on Front Street and Lahaina Yacht Club and part time sweeping at Whalers General Store.
He helped a son build a house in the Philippines and had just paid off a van there for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to ride in.
Police apprehended hit-and-run suspect Saul Lopez Martinez, 52, of Lahaina after a search. He was charged with first-degree negligent homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, habitually driving under the influence of an intoxicant and driving after his license was suspended or revoked for impaired driving.
A breath test six hours after the crash measured Martinez’s blood-alcohol level at 0.121 percent, which is over the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Martinez was convicted of his second DUI on Jan. 24 and had had his driver’s license revoked for three years, according to Maui News.
Dela Cruz, who moved to Maui in 2016, had been planning a trip to the Philippines with his wife. His family had been preparing a surprise 52nd wedding anniversary for the two.
A GoFundMe account set up by the family had raised more than $26,000 of a $50,000 goal to bury Dela Cruz in his homeland in Dumalneg, Ilocos Norte.
