STRUCK BY CAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22351, 24 February 1936, Page 8

STRUCK BY CAR

PEDESTRIAN INJURED DRIVER FAILS TO STOP POLICE PATROL DISTRICT VEHICLE LEFT ON ROADSIDE After knocking down and seriously injuring an elderly man at the junction of Great South Road and Manukau Road last night, a motorist, accompanied by a passenger, proceeded on his way for some distance before bringing his car to a stop. Two men were seen to leave the car and disappear in the darkness of a side street. The injured man, Mr. John W. Beeston, who lives at Epsom, was attended to by Dr. M. G. Pezaro, and was then taken to the Auckland Hospital by a St. John ambulance. He was found to be suffering a fracture of the skull and other injuries. His condition at a late hour last night was reported as very serious. When a few pedestrians who were in the street at the time noticed that when the two men left the car thev did not return to the scene of the accident, the matter was immediately reported to the police. Detectives and constables set off in patrol cars in a thorough search of the surrounding district. Several private oars assisted. It was reported to the pohce that the two men had been seen near Green Lane and several detectives proceeded in that direction, but other and conflicting reports of the men having been seen after leaving the car were received. Mr. Beeston was crossing Manukau Road near the intersection about 9.30 when a car, an old tourer model, travelling from the direction of Newmarket toward Onehunga, struck him as he reached the tram lines and knocked him down. The car did not stop then. The engine was noticeably misfiring badly and about 200 yards along Manukau Road from the scene of the accident the car was seen to draw near the kerb and stop. According to several pedestrians who noticed the car pull up, one of the' occupants immediately left the car and 1 entered a private drive. He reappeared on the street again in a short time and together with his companion disappeared. The car, which had a dented radiator, was left with its headlights burning.