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A former Honolulu Ethics Commission investigator died in a freak accident last week when he was hit by a runaway dump truck in his own yard. Read more

A former Honolulu Ethics Commission investigator died in a freak accident last week when he was hit by a runaway dump truck in his own yard.

William “Bill” Shanafelt, 64, who quit his job in Hawaii two years ago amid upheaval at the commission, had just checked his mailbox July 2 and was heading back into his Hamilton, Texas, home when the truck with no driver plowed into him from behind.

It turns out the driver had gone to the gas station minimart across the street when the truck’s parking brake failed and it rolled into Shanafelt’s yard, striking Shanafelt from behind.

Tiff Holland, a former adjunct faculty member at Windward Community College, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that her husband of 25 years was found dead with the mail still in his hand.

The truck, she said, was stopped by a large oak tree in the yard, splitting it in half. Otherwise, the large vehicle might have plowed into their century-old house where she was watching television.

According to KWTX television news in Waco, Texas, police issued citations for faulty brakes and other equipment problems to the company that owns the truck. No criminal charges have yet been filed.

Shanafelt, a career lawman who retired in Texas, was in the news in Hawaii two years ago when he resigned from his job, publicly criticized ethics commissioners and offered support to his boss, Charles Totto, who was the target of political fire and eventually resigned himself.

The FBI Academy-trained Shanafelt spent 25 years with the Kent State University Police Department and three years with the Portage County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office. While at Kent State he ran the detective bureau and the Tri-County Drug Task Force for 10 years.

“All this, he managed not to get shot, not to get killed, during a drug deal where he would go in undercover … and then a stupid dump truck ran him over, and it’s just senseless,” Holland told KWTX following the accident.

In Hawaii, Shanafelt served as a tour guide at the USS Missouri before joining the Ethics Commission as a fraud investigator in 2015.

“He was a great guy and a great cop who just wanted to help people,” Holland said. “Family was everything to him.”

Shanafelt is survived by his wife and two daughters, Morgan, 35, and Tori, 15. Donations can be made to the family through GoFundMe here.