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40-year prison term meted out for deaths in ‘horrific’ car crash

Roman Semes appears for his sentencing Monday in 2nd Circuit Court. Semes was sentenced to prison terms totaling 40 years for a crash three years ago that killed a 72-year-old Auburn, Wash., man and a 16-year-old boy, the son of his daughter’s then-fiance. The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photos

WAILUKU — For speeding through a red light to cause “a horrific and violent crash” that killed a man and a 16-year-old boy and injured two others, a Haiku man was sentenced Monday to prison terms totaling 40 years.

In imposing the consecutive terms for Roman Semes, 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza noted that the defendant had a prior traffic record including citations for speeding and driving without a license.

“You chose to get in your truck and drive that vehicle under the influence,” the judge told Semes. “You operated your truck at a very high rate of speed . . . and you caused a horrific and violent crash.

“You have forever changed the lives of many individuals whose lives have been touched in a very positive and warm way by individuals killed and injured in this horrific crash.”

Originally charged with manslaughter, Semes, 39, had pleaded guilty to two reduced counts of first-degree negligent homicide, as well as two counts of first-degree negligent injury and leaving the scene of a fatal collision.

Sixteen-year-old Noah Chapman (left) and his best friend, 14-year-old Beck Dengler, are shown in a photo taken during their Maui vacation before the crash that killed Noah and injured Beck. The photo was shown in 2nd Circuit Court during the sentencing of Roman Semes.

The crash occurred at 8:49 p.m. July 6, 2015, as Semes drove a 2002 Ford F-150 pickup truck east on Hana Highway. Police said he ran a red light and hit a 2014 Ford Taurus four-door sedan that was turning left from the highway onto Hookele Street in Kahului.

Seventy-two-year-old Ronald Dean of Auburn, Wash., who was driving the Taurus, and 16-year-old Noah Chapman of Boise, Idaho, who was in the back seat, died at the crash scene. Dean’s wife, 69-year-old Karen Dean, who was the front-seat passenger, and 14-year-old Beck Dengler, another back-seat passenger, were injured.

Before the crash, Semes and two co-workers had been drinking six beers given to them by a customer after work, according to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum. The three bought more beers to continue drinking in a parking lot on Hana Highway just north of Dairy Road in Kahului. Just before Semes left the parking lot at nearly 9 p.m., he was seen on the phone for five to 10 minutes and appeared to be upset by the call, according to the memorandum.

On Hana Highway, witnesses described seeing Semes’ truck in the right lane speeding past a van that was in the inner left lane before the truck went into the left lane and sped through the red light into the intersection at Hookele Street to hit the Taurus.

The Taurus spun into a light pole, which crashed down into the middle of the intersection.

Ronald Dean, who was killed in a July 6, 2015, crash on Hana Highway and Hookele Street, is shown in a family photo displayed by the prosecution in 2nd Circuit Court.

Witnesses saw Semes “stumble” out of the truck toward a nearby field. Police later found Semes pretending to sleep under a hedge separating the field from Hookele Street and its sidewalk.

A police investigation showed Semes was driving at least 75 mph in a 30-mph construction zone at the time of the crash. His blood-alcohol level was measured at nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

In court Monday, family members said the Deans, who had a time-share unit in Kihei for 26 years, had brought Noah­, the son of their daughter’s then-fiance, and his best friend on vacation because they had earned good grades.

The night of the crash, they were returning after dinner at a pizza parlor that served vegan food because Karen Dean wanted Beck to feel comfortable, said the Deans’ son, Ryan Dean.

“My mother’s human kindness put them in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a drunk man killed her husband and killed a 16-year-old child and left her in a semi-vegetative state for the rest of her life,” Dean said.

In a photo displayed in court, Roman Semes appears in a picture taken about 2 1/2 hours after a July 6, 2015, crash that killed a 72-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy.

He said his father was a “proud Irishman raised with a strong work ethic” who always had two jobs.

He was an Air Force officer and pilot who served in combat in Vietnam before being called to active duty in the first Gulf War and as a reservist in the conflict in Somalia.

Karen Dean had worked as a learning disabilities teaching assistant, four times winning a Golden Apple award usually given only to teachers, Ryan Dean said.

“I miss my dad and the way my mom used to be every minute of the day,” he said. “The world has been robbed of three great people. Their loss can never be replaced.”

Jill Dean said her parents were “best friends.”

“They loved life and loved living each day with each other,” she said.

After suffering a traumatic brain injury, as well as fractured ribs, right hip, clavicle and arm in the crash, Karen Dean is unable to talk or walk, her daughter said.

“She tries to give me kisses and she tries to hug, but her body is too badly damaged,” Jill Dean said. “Roman, you broke my soul into a million pieces.”

Joshua Chapman, Jill Dean’s ex-fiance whose son Noah was killed in the crash, said Semes made a choice to drive while he was drunk that night.

“I don’t want to wake up every morning and miss my son,” Chapman said. “I don’t have a choice. You took that away, Roman.”

“Noah was my only child,” said his mother, Mikel Hautzinger. “I put everything into him, and he was a real light.”

Hautzinger said she hasn’t shut off her son’s cellphone, continuing to pay the monthly bill so she can hear his voice on his voicemail message.

She said she couldn’t unpack his suitcase for a year and a half.

“I walked by his bedroom every day and just prayed that I would wake up from this nightmare,” she said. “A mother’s job is to protect their children, and the thought of him needing help and it not being given is difficult.”

Speaking through a Pohnpeian interpreter, Semes said, “I want to ask forgiveness from the family. I have my own punishment.”

Defense attorney Keith Shigetomi explained that “in his mind, he punishes himself every day and thinks about what happened every day.”

Shigetomi said Semes “is the first to say, ‘It’s my fault. I should not have drank and drove. I should have stopped to think. I should have known better.’ “

“The incident in this case lasted at most a couple of minutes,” Shigetomi said. “And Roman is being judged for one moment of the worst day of his life. That does not define him.”

Semes had proposed a plea agreement to settle the case in mid-2016, but the offer was rejected until days before a trial was to begin, when the prosecution offered “essentially the same plea agreement,” Shigetomi said.

He said Semes wasn’t asking to be placed on probation, which was a sentencing option, but requested concurrent prison terms.

“Yes, he was speeding. Yes, there was alcohol,” Shigetomi said. “But what there was not in this case were brake marks. And the lack of those brake marks show that Roman really wasn’t aware of what was coming up. He was negligent.”

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin sought consecutive prison terms totaling 40 years.

A year before the crash, Semes was convicted of inattention to driving in a single-car crash where there were allegations he was impaired, Martin said. He said Semes’ driver’s license was revoked and he had to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and participate in a driver education course.

“Sadly for Ronald Dean and Karen Dean, Noah Chapman and Beck Dengler, it had no effect on him,” Martin said. “And the impact of this crash has been devastating.”

Semes was ordered to pay $57,615 in restitution. A lifetime revocation of his driver’s license also was ordered.

Attorneys said Semes could face deportation.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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