Cops take 10 hours to react after Kawerau boy hit by car | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua
Cops take 10 hours to react after Kawerau boy hit by car
Gordon Tamehana and his son Anaru. PICTURE: HAMISH RUTHERFORD (eb0212anar)
By HAMISH RUTHERFORD in Whakatane
A Kawerau father is angry police took 10 hours to arrive at his home after his son was hit by a car.
Gordon Tamehana said five-year-old Anaru may have been at fault in the accident, and the damage was minor, but he was not impressed with the police's poor response.
He accused the driver of the car that hit his son of leaving the scene of the accident after speaking only to the boy.
Police say in legal terms he did stop and they are not pressing charges but concedes they should have responded to Mr Tamehana's calls earlier.
Anaru was riding his bike in front of his Walter Nash Ave home on Saturday night. At about 8pm, bleeding and distressed, he came inside claiming he was hit by a black car.
Anaru told his father the driver got him off the road, told him he was going to Auckland and drove away. None of the family saw the incident unfold.
Mr Tamehana was initially told police would arrive in 10 minutes. When they failed to turn up he called several more times and was told they would be there "as soon as they can".
Family members scoured the short street asking about the incident and about an hour later a nearby neighbour admitted he had hit the boy. He claimed the car was not his and he had to return it to the owner but members of Mr Tamehana's family stood behind the car to stop him from leaving.
Mr Tamehana said the situation was very tense and family had to prevent him from taking matters into his own hands.
Police were called at least six times that evening, he said, but did not arrive until about 6.30am the following morning.
As Saturday evening was the Kawerau police Christmas party only one officer, from another station, was on duty.
Senior Sergeant Mark van der Kley said the officer was busy with another incident, chasing a man brandishing a baseball bat, so he could not attend the other matter.
"But obviously he should have called the people back, I've no excuse for that, that's just slack," he said.
Mr van der Kley said according to the driver's account of events, Anaru flew out of a driveway and although the man was driving slowly and tried to avoid him, struck him at low speed.
Because he checked Anaru's injuries and walked him home he did not leave the scene of the accident in a legal sense, said Mr van der Kley.
"It would have been nice to put the bag on him to see if there was a suggestion alcohol was involved but that's something you can't do in retrospect," Mr van der Kley said.
He agreed 10 hours was a long time to wait for police.
The night officers started work at midnight but only learned of the incident on the police computer.
Mr van der Kley said he would investigate why the officers were not informed earlier.
A Kawerau father is angry police took 10 hours to arrive at his home after his son was hit by a car.
Gordon Tamehana said five-year-old Anaru may have been at fault in the accident, and the damage was minor, but he was not impressed with the police's poor response.
He accused the driver of the car that hit his son of leaving the scene of the accident after speaking only to the boy.
Police say in legal terms he did stop and they are not pressing charges but concedes they should have responded to Mr Tamehana's calls earlier.
Anaru was riding his bike in front of his Walter Nash Ave home on Saturday night. At about 8pm, bleeding and distressed, he came inside claiming he was hit by a black car.
Anaru told his father the driver got him off the road, told him he was going to Auckland and drove away. None of the family saw the incident unfold.
Mr Tamehana was initially told police would arrive in 10 minutes. When they failed to turn up he called several more times and was told they would be there "as soon as they can".
Family members scoured the short street asking about the incident and about an hour later a nearby neighbour admitted he had hit the boy. He claimed the car was not his and he had to return it to the owner but members of Mr Tamehana's family stood behind the car to stop him from leaving.
Mr Tamehana said the situation was very tense and family had to prevent him from taking matters into his own hands.
Police were called at least six times that evening, he said, but did not arrive until about 6.30am the following morning.
As Saturday evening was the Kawerau police Christmas party only one officer, from another station, was on duty.
Senior Sergeant Mark van der Kley said the officer was busy with another incident, chasing a man brandishing a baseball bat, so he could not attend the other matter.
"But obviously he should have called the people back, I've no excuse for that, that's just slack," he said.
Mr van der Kley said according to the driver's account of events, Anaru flew out of a driveway and although the man was driving slowly and tried to avoid him, struck him at low speed.
Because he checked Anaru's injuries and walked him home he did not leave the scene of the accident in a legal sense, said Mr van der Kley.
"It would have been nice to put the bag on him to see if there was a suggestion alcohol was involved but that's something you can't do in retrospect," Mr van der Kley said.
He agreed 10 hours was a long time to wait for police.
The night officers started work at midnight but only learned of the incident on the police computer.
Mr van der Kley said he would investigate why the officers were not informed earlier.
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