Publicity leads to arrest of van driver

Ralph Timoteo, father of the victim. Picture / Dean Purcell

The father of a teenager seriously injured when he was struck by a van which failed to stop said it was "a big weight off my shoulders" to learn of an arrest.

A 35-year-old painter has been charged after a passenger in the van that hit Lincoln Hapeta contacted police yesterday.

The van has been impounded by police and will undergo mechanical and forensic testing today.

Lincoln, 16, suffered organ damage when he was hit while standing outside a relative's Mangere address on Friday night.

The Rotorua High School student, in Auckland visiting family for the school holidays, is recovering in Middlemore Hospital from surgery.

His father, Ralph Timoteo, said news coverage, including a front page article in yesterday's Herald, "obviously touched someone".

"When I got the news [of an arrest] it was a big weight off my shoulders. I just felt this huge relief."

Lincoln yesterday spoke for the first time since he was injured and Mr Timoteo said he was slowly regaining his memory of what happened.

"He keeps on defying the doctors, the way his progress is coming along. He is communicating and recognising the whanau, and he has some recollection of the event."

Constable Steve Carey, of the Counties Manukau Serious Crash Unit, said the driver of the van had been charged with dangerous driving, aggravated careless driving causing injury and failing to stop. Two other people in the van at the time were not facing any charges.

The driver will appear in the Manukau District Court today.