By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
[UPDATE: 2.15PM]
THE parents of a Springvale man killed in a hit-and-run collision in Noble Park last year have called for the driver involved to come forward.
Peter Danh, 36, was found dead on Prior Road, about 10.20pm on 11 September 2014.
The vehicle involved has been captured on residential CCTV at the road, though unable to be identified.
Parents Trung and Anh Danh fronted a press conference on Thursday 5 November in the hope that they could get some answers and perhaps move on from the tragedy.
“He was really nice,” a distraught mother Anh said. “He loved me, I loved him.”
The father Trung said: “Every day I can’t forget. It’s like yesterday my son had an accident.”
Detective Acting Inspector Bradley McArthur, of the police’s Major Collisions Unit, revealed new details about what happened to Mr Danh.
He had been in the process of walking home from a friend’s place, then laid down intoxicated in the middle of the lit residential road where he was struck by a vehicle at “relatively low speed”.
Det McArthur said it appeared the driver had tried to avoid Mr Danh, who suffered significant fatal head injuries in the collision.
Initially, the Homicide Squad investigated for several days what was thought to be an intentional act.
That theory was dismissed – a disturbance in the street thought to have preceded the incident was later attributed to witnesses’ reaction to Mr Danh’s body.
Det McArthur appealed to the driver’s “conscience” and vowed that this matter would not go away.
He said the driver may have been deterred from contacting police due to hearing about the homicide investigation, but it was now treated as a hit-and-run matter.
“There wasn’t any sort of poor driving, apart from not stopping to report it or help the victim.”
He said hit-run drivers were sometimes motivated not to contact police because they were driving unlicensed, their car was unregistered or they were drunk or drug-affected at the time.
“Even those things are minor compared to not stopping to help a human being.
“We have a family that has been suffering since September last year.
“If they contact us, it can help the family move on, provide some answers and let justice take its course.”
Any information to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au
[EARLIER]
POLICE have released CCTV footage of a vehicle in the hope of solving the suspicious death of a Springvale man in Noble Park last year.
Peter Danh, 36, was found dead on Prior Road, about 10.20pm on 11 September 2014.
The CCTV footage shows a vehicle that police believed was present during an incident involving Mr Danh’s demise.
A Major Collision Investigation Unit detective and the victim’s mother were expected to front a press conference on Thursday 5 November to plead for more public information.
Any information to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au
If anyone recognises anything in the video, please contact police
