Northern Cape - Police in Kimberley on Sunday arrested a man, who allegedly knocked over and killed a woman with his vehicle at the weekend and then fled the scene without stopping, leaving the dead woman on the side of the road.
The incident happened at around 10am on Saturday morning in Woodburne Road, between Greenpoint and Beaconsfield.
The woman was apparently knocked over by a chocolate brown Volkswagen Amarok and then “pushed” several meters down the road by the vehicle before she fell onto the pavement, where she was later declared dead.
According to an eyewitness, Enrico Camphers, he was walking on the road from Greenpoint in the direction of Beaconsfield, when he passed the victim, who is yet to be identified, just minutes before she was hit.
“The woman was walking on the left side of the road and was hit by a brown Amarok bakkie that came from behind her. The driver carried on driving and pushed the woman a few metres further until she fell onto the pavement. The driver failed to stop.
“The person just sped off, without stopping, leaving the body next to the road. As she lay there with her eyes closed and covered in blood, I could see that she was dead,” Camphers said.
About twenty metres was measured from the suspected point of impact, where a piece of the vehicle was found lying in the road, to where the woman ended up on the pavement.
It is suspected that the vehicle was damaged in the centre of its bonnet, where it hit the woman.
Only a pool of blood, as well as the woman’s shoes and a blue sweater were left behind after the body was loaded into a pathology vehicle.
Several community members, fearing that the woman could be a relative, came to the scene and tried to identify the body which, according to bystanders, was “completely mangled”.
However, of the several people who did look at the body, after telling police officials that they were “strong enough” to do so, none could identify the woman and police had by Sunday still not made a positive ID.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana, did, however, confirm that they were investigating a case of culpable homicide after the fatal hit-and-run incident.
“It is alleged that the driver of a brown-coloured Amarok hit the woman, who is believed to be in her thirties, and sped off from the crime scene,” Tawana said, adding that the victim had not been identified yet.
“She was wearing an orange top, grey tracksuit pants and was also carrying a bag on her back,” Tawana said.
By late on Sunday afternoon, Tawana confirmed that the 42-year-old man who allegedly drove the vehicle, was arrested in Galeshewe at around 2:15pm on Sunday, following a lead in the investigation.
The Amarok was also impounded.
The suspect will appear in court soon.
DFA
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