(Trinidad Express) A Siparia retiree used his dying breath to give his daughter the registration number of the vehicle which struck him and drove away on Friday evening.
Jonas Dukhedin-Lalla, 66, suffered massive head injuries when an out of control Toyota station wagon slammed into him as he walked on the pavement along the SS Erin Road.
The incident occurred at around 5.30pm when the driver overtook a line of traffic and lost control of the vehicle.
Eyewitnesses said Dukhedin-Lalla was casually walking on the pavement, carrying a plastic bag containing a loaf of bread. He was walking back to his home after going to a nearby supermarket.
Police said Dukhedin-Lalla was thrown about nine feet and lay bleeding on the roadside. The driver, police said, reversed the vehicle and drove away.
His daughter, April Dukhedin-Lalla, said she arrived as her father was being placed into an ambulance.
“He was conscious and he was speaking to me. He told me the vehicle registration number. He said he had gone to the grocery to buy a bread for the afternoon. He was walking home when this vehicle hit him,” she said.
Dukhedin-Lalla was taken to the Siparia Health Facility and was being transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital when he went into cardiac arrest, his daughter said.
He died at around 8.30pm.
Police later intercepted the vehicle in Palo Seco. A man was taken into police custody.
Dukhedin-Lalla was a father of two and grandfather of two. He was divorced and lived alone.
He was a former chairman of the board of the National Transportation Co-operative Society Limited.
His daughter said Dukhedin-Lalla was also a cricketer “who almost made it to the national team”.
She said, “He was an active cricketer. But the day of the trials was the same day as his wedding and he did not go. He would always tell us that story all the time.”
She said her father’s death was a great loss to their family and community.
“This is very shocking because he was not a sick man. And even when I saw him after the accident he was speaking to me. His head was bleeding but it did not appear to be a big wound. I was very shocked,” she said.
An autopsy is expected to be performed on Monday.
