HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island grand jury has indicted a man and a woman for an allegedly drunken truck race on a North Kohala Highway last year that ended in the death of a 21-year-old Waimea man.

Police said a 21-year-old Puna woman was driving a 1988 Isuzu pickup truck north in the north-bound lane of Akone Pule Highway at 1:50 a.m. Nov. 11 when she struck another vehicle, a 1980 GMC pickup truck that was traveling north in the south-bound lane.

Police said the drivers of both vehicles were "racing and driving recklessly."

The woman driving the Isuzu was ejected from the vehicle and was hospitalized in serious condition. Her passenger, Ronald J. Tavares, was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The grand jury last week indicted Chelsey K.V. Mauga, the alleged driver of the Isuzu, with first-degree negligent homicide, driving under the influence of an intoxicant, driving without a license and racing on the highway.

Also indicted was Brian Joseph Santiago, 34, of North Kohala, who was allegedly driving the GMC truck.

Santiago faces charges of first-degree negligent homicide, racing on the highway, driving on a suspended license, and driving under the influence of an intoxicant within five years of a previous DUI conviction.

Santiago was convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants in 1999 and again in 2007, several months before the Akone Pule collision. He was fined and had his license suspended for 90 days after the 2007 DUI conviction.

If convicted of first-degree negligent homicide, both Mauga and Santiago face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.