Two men arrested after elderly man dies in collision
A man in his 80s died after being carried on top of a car for as much as a mile, Kent Police said.
Two men have been arrested after a pedestrian in his 80s died after being hit by a car and carried on top of it for as much a mile.
Kent Police said the man was struck by a grey Mercedes estate and carried an unspecified distance.
They said the initial collision happened on the A289 Gads Hill in Gillingham, Kent, just after 12pm on Monday.
The man was found on Grange Road in the Medway town, potentially almost a mile or more from where he was hit.
Police said the car was found nearby and the two occupants fled on foot.
Ralph Belmonte, a Grange Road resident of 47 years, said a postman discovered the body on the road after having mistaken it for a dummy strapped to the roof of a driving car.
Mr Belmonte told the Press Association: “(The postman) saw what he thought was a dummy on top of a vehicle and didn’t think anything of it.
“It was only on his return to drop the rest of the mail off that he saw it on the road and approached it thinking that it might have been a dummy and it could create a problem, an accident.
“And as he went to turn (it) over he realised it was actually a body.”
Emergency services responded “very, very quickly”, the 69-year-old retiree said.
He added: “All of Medway turned up really. You could be looking at 20 vehicles: unmarked cars, police cars, ambulances, paramedics, you name it.”
Mr Belmonte said: “It’s as safe as anybody’s area, really, until something like this happens, you know – everything’s safe until becomes unsafe, really.
“It’s not an area known for, you know, high crime rate, but it can happen anywhere.”
Detectives investigating the crash released CCTV images which showed two hooded men dressed in dark clothing on a pavement on foot, with one appearing to be running while carrying a number plate.
South East Coast Ambulance paramedics treated the male pedestrian at the scene but he later died, the force said.
A 29-year-old man from the nearby town of Chatham and a 28-year-old man with no address have been arrested over the crash and are being questioned in custody.
One of the men from the CCTV images is still being sought.
