July 30, 2004
A Circuit Court judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit by former Honolulu police officer Clyde Arakawa against the family of a woman who was killed last October in a high-speed crash with Arakawa's car.
Arakawa was seeking thousands of dollars to cover damages to his Ford Thunderbird (pictured, right), which collided with a car driven by Dana Ambrose Oct. 8 at the intersection of School Street and Pali Highway.
Ambrose would have turned 20 years old on Monday.
"There's absolutely no basis for this," Ambrose family attorney Rick Fried said. "I guess somebody's theory is 'the best defense is a good offense, so let's throw some stuff up and see if it sticks.' And I'm happy to say it didn't stick."
Arakawa (pictured, left) is facing a slew of legal problems in connection with the crash, including a manslaughter indictment and a civil lawsuit from the Ambrose family.
The Ambrose family claims that Arakawa was drunk at the time and ran through a red light to cause the collision. Arakawa has publicly proclaimed his innocence and insisted that it was Ambrose who ran the red light.
Arakawa did not attend Tuesday's court hearing. He is currently living in Oregon until the start of his criminal trial in July.
