Local News

Defendant: Van ‘steered by itself’ and hit bicyclist

WAILUKU -- A man said his van was "being steered by itself" when it went over a curb and across a grass shoulder onto the sidewalk to injure a bicyclist he had been trying to "capture" in Kahului.

Testifying Thursday in his 2nd Circuit Court trial, Mark Becker said he couldn't see through the shattered glass of his windshield and was trying to avoid a fire hydrant, tree and pole on East Wakea Avenue when his van hit the bicycle near Maui Greens Market in the early-morning hours of April 2, 2017.

Carlos Loria, 48, suffered a fractured hip and pelvis after being launched 12 to 15 feet from his bicycle as its back tire was being pushed by the van.

Becker, 58, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder of Loria.

"Did you have any intention to kill Carlos Loria?" defense attorney Gerald Johnson asked Becker.

"No, the exact opposite," he replied. "I'm not a violent person. I don't kill anything. I tried to avoid him totally. I saved his life, if anything. He was right in the path of my van. As soon as I saw him, I turned right."

The collision followed a confrontation between Becker and Loria shortly before 4 a.m. by a dumpster in a nearby business complex at 325 Hukilike St.

Becker said he was living in his white Ford Econoline van, which he was allowed to park in a business stall next to the dumpster in the complex. That morning, Becker said he had let his dog Buddy out of the van before he turned around and saw Loria looking into his van.

"I said, 'What the heck are you doing?' '' Becker said. "And he immediately said, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'I guess I'm staring at a meth addict who's staring at a dumpster.' ''

Loria, who was spending the night in a graphic design business owned by his brothers, said he was taking out the garbage when Becker jumped out from behind the dumpster.

Becker moved toward Loria and punched him in the head, Loria said.

Both men ended up on the ground exchanging blows before Loria grabbed Becker's long hair and pulled him closer to try to prevent him from continuing to throw punches.

After Loria said he was going to call police, Becker got in his van and left.

Loria, who testified Wednesday, said he wanted to get the license plate number so he could call police when he got on his bicycle to look for the van, finding it at a warehouse and riding by.

"I didn't stop because I didn't want to confront him," Loria said. "I didn't know what was going through my head, but I wanted justice. Yeah, I was upset."

Loria said he continued riding his bicycle, going on Hoohana Street and turning right toward Wakea Avenue. There, he rode on the sidewalk by KFC, going east and passing Wiki Wai Wash.

No one was in the street, Loria said, when "I noticed lights suddenly behind me."

"I turned around and before I knew it, I was being run over," he said.

Video surveillance from Wiki Wai Wash and Maui Greens Market shows the van headlights pointing on the sidewalk as it jumps the curb and accelerates, going over a 15-foot-wide grass shoulder to be positioned behind Loria as he rides his bicycle on the sidewalk, Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin said during his opening statement Wednesday. He said the van pushed the bicycle about 50 feet, with Loria unable to steer or pedal the bike.

"In a matter of seconds, the rear wheel gets caught under the bumper, the handlebars turn and the bike jackknifes," Martin said. "Thank God it did because that's what saved Carlos' life. It launched him over the handlebars and onto the asphalt." 

The back tire of the van passed near Loria's head, and he heard his bike being crunched under the van, Martin said.

He said the van drove away but people who heard the collision ran to help Loria and called 911.

After reviewing surveillance video, now retired Detective Dennis Lee said the case was reclassified as an attempted murder. He said Becker was arrested April 21, 2017, and spoke with detectives in a recorded interview that lasted little more than an hour.

During his testimony Thursday, Becker repeated much of what he told detectives in the interview.

He said he had driven across the street after the fight with Loria and was parked, waiting to see if police would arrive. He said he began following Loria after he passed the van and threw rocks that hit the windshield. Becker said one rock nearly hit his head.

"I wanted to capture him, not physically or throwing a net on him, keep track of him," Becker said. He said he wanted to catch Loria because he was "trying to kill me."

Becker said he had driven on Hukilike Street without lights and was in the KFC parking lot when he turned on the van headlights and turned to go in the same direction as the bicycle.

Becker said he was reaching over to roll down the passenger window of the van so he could yell at Loria when the van wheels went to slightly to the right at a curb near Wiki Wai Wash. 

"It's being steered by itself," he said. "I'm trying to get back in the seat, sitting normally. But the vehicle is being steered kind of by itself."

He said a telephone pole light was making it difficult for him to see through his shattered windshield as his van was angled and accelerating. Seeing a fire hydrant 10 feet ahead, "I rip the wheel to the right," he said.

He said he barely missed the hydrant and had gone "10, 20, 50 feet" before he saw the bicycle on the left side of the van. "As soon as I saw the guy, I hit the brakes real fast and turned the wheel as fast as possible," Becker said. "I didn't want to run over the guy."

Martin cross-examined Becker about his testimony that he hadn't seen Loria until just before hitting him. "It was really hard to see him because he's kind of low," Becker said. "I only saw his head and shoulders on my left front."

Martin asked how he had seen the fire hydrant on the ground.

Becker said the bicyclist was in an area where there was a "spiderweb of lights shining in my face," making it hard to see. Becker said he was looking for the telephone pole to avoid and wasn't looking in front of the van.

When Martin asked about a portion of video showing that a top brake light for the van wasn't on when Becker said he had braked, Becker said the light "doesn't work" and hadn't worked in 10 years.

When a following portion of the video showed the brake light on, Becker said he guessed the light worked. He later said it worked sometimes.

Becker said he didn't report what happened to police because his driver's license was suspended.

"You were more worried about a ticket for a suspended license than reporting an attempted murder on your own life?" Martin asked Becker. "Honestly, that's what we're supposed to believe?"

"Yes," Becker replied.

Responding to a juror's question asking if Becker could have turned back onto the road after avoiding the fire hydrant, he said he was worried about hitting a tree and pole.

"All these thoughts happened within five seconds, and I knew that that guy was in the mix there as well," Becker said. "The fact that I didn't crash into something totally blew my mind."

"The one thing you weren't worried about hitting was Carlos Loria, right?" Martin asked.

"No," Becker replied. "I worried about him, Carlos Loria, too."

Closing arguments in the trial were set for Monday.

Judge Rhonda Loo is presiding over the trial.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@maui news.com. Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@ mauinews.com.