The New Zealand Herald: Hit-and-run driver ’targeting cyclists’
4:00AM Sunday Oct 25, 2009
By Anna Leask
The driver of a ute that ran down and fatally injured an Auckland doctor as he trained for a charity ride may have been involved in other incidents with cyclists.
Mairangi Bay GP Ian Graham Robinson, known as Graham, was knocked off his bike by a white Toyota Hilux on Peak Rd, near Helensville, on October 14.
The 62-year-old suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital the following day.
Orewa Detective Mark Palma confirmed police had taken statements from other cyclists relating to “similar incidents possibly with a similar vehicle in the immediate area”.
He could not rule out that the driver was targeting cyclists.
Graham was training for the Heart Foundation’s Great Ride for Heart in February. His friend Peter Kalinowski was riding behind Graham when the ute hit him.
Another friend, Chris Boberg, arrived soon after but did not see what happened.
Boberg said he and Kalinowski returned to the scene on Wednesday to help with a police reconstruction.
“It was very hard for Peter to get back on his bike for the first time … but he gritted his teeth and he reconstructed it three times.”
Boberg said Graham’s wife Lin and their five children remained “very, very traumatised” this week. “They’ve had enough horror, it’s very, very hard for them. They’ve lost a father, and a grandfather in the prime of his life.
“It’s just so exquisitely hard and unfair that he was taken for no reason. Graham and Lin were just the most wonderful couple, the best of friends. They were a wonderful family, very strong.”
Palma said it was unlikely the driver did not know he or she had hit Graham and police hoped to identify the person.
* Can you help?
If you have information about the driver of the ute that hit Graham Robinson please contact Detective Mark Palma at Orewa police station 09 426 4555
Online donations to raise funds for the charity ride have surpassed $15,000. To contribute, visit: www.heartracer.org.nz/grahamrobinson/
– HERALD ON SUNDAY
