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A 3-year-old boy died Wednesday from injuries he received after he fell out of the cab of a pickup truck and then was run over on the road shoulder off Route 190 in Kalaoa, North Kona.
The boy was identified as Joel Peter of a Kailua-Kona address.
Police received a call at 6:41 p.m. from Kona Community Hospital reporting the crash.
The driver of the truck, 38-year-old Pedro Peter, drove the boy to the hospital, where the child was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m.
The driver’s wife and three girls who were in the cab, as well as two male relatives in the truck bed, were not injured.
A police investigation revealed that the boy’s sister thought their father had parked the truck. She opened the rear passenger door and the boy fell out.
The father, not knowing that the boy had fallen out, continued up the driveway and ran over the child.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers arrested Peter on suspicion of negligent homicide, no operator’s license, no no-fault insurance and four counts of not having child restraints.
He was also arrested for an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
Police do not suspect speed, alcohol or drugs to be factors in this crash.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
