Driver of pickup truck held after his son is run over, dies

A 38-year-old man was being held Thursday after his pickup truck ran over and fatally injured his 3-year-old son the day before in North Kona, Hawaii County police said.

The boy, Joel Peter of Kailua-Kona, fell out of the cab of the truck and was run over on the road shoulder leading to the driveway of Matsu­yama Store off Route 190 on Wednesday, police said. His father was being held Thursday night by police in Kona.

An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.

Police investigators said they were checking into whether the father had outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court. They also were looking into whether he had a driver’s license and no-fault insurance, and whether child restraints were used in the truck.

Police received a call at 6:41 p.m. from Kona Community Hospital reporting the crash.The father drove the boy to the hospital, where the child was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., police said.

The boy’s 32-year-old mother 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, police said.