He drove drunk in Tacoma and killed ‘a very sweet young man.’ Now he’s been sentenced

TACOMA – A man with two prior DUIs who drove drunk in Tacoma last year and fatally struck an 18-year-old in a hit-and-run was sentenced to prison Thursday.

Kalolo Petelo, 33, pleaded guilty last month to vehicular homicide, felony driving under the influence and failure to remain at an accident resulting in death. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Joseph Evans sentenced him to six years, three months in prison.

He was accused of killing 18-year-old Matthew McIntire, who police said was walking at about 5:45 a.m. on Nov. 28, 2021, near East 44th Street and Portland Avenue when he was hit by a pickup. The victim’s mother later told KING 5 her son lived with extreme autism.

Petelo’s blood alcohol content was recorded to be 0.18 two hours after the hit-and-run, according to sentencing documents. That’s above the legal limit of 0.08.

Several relatives of the victim, including his mother, two sisters and his uncle spoke during the sentencing hearing. In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, McIntire’s caretaker wrote that the teen’s death was shocking and brought her overwhelming grief.

“Matthew was a very sweet young man,” the caretaker wrote. “Every time I was around Matthew, he had a big, beautiful smile on his face, clapping his hands together and saying ‘happy!’ ”

Petelo’s license was suspended when the hit-and-run occurred, according to court records. He had been ordered to have an ignition-interlock device installed in his vehicle, but police didn’t see one when the pickup was found in the driveway of Petelo’s wife’s home.

Investigators found the vehicle, a Ford F150, with the help of a witness who followed and got the license plate of a truck he saw flee after McIntire was struck. According to charging documents, it had substantial front-end damage.

Petelo was inside the home, and prosecutors wrote in charging documents that when investigators spoke with him, he smelled strongly of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

Police asked him if he had been drinking, and Petelo allegedly said he drank a 12-pack of beer the night before at a South Hosmer Street hotel. The defendant said he stopped when he fell asleep at about 9 p.m. The man was arrested and his blood was drawn at a hospital for toxicology testing.