Dad never made birthday party
Ross Hallgarth was a humble man of humble means and humble wants.
He loved his five kids, he loved trucks, and he loved his dog - a diminutive ‘‘bitser’’ named Arora.
Gazing out the window beside the dining table in the house he shared with his dad, eldest son Daniel said it still doesn’t feel like he’s gone.
Hallgarth, 54, left his Flaxmere house early on Saturday, April 29, to go to his truck-driving job at Phoenix Contracting. He had arranged to meet his kids at a Hastings restaurant for birthday lunch for his only daughter, Kylie, who was turning 25 the next day. But he didn’t turn up. ‘‘We were wondering why he wasn’t answering calls or texts,’’ Daniel said
Hours later, after Daniel, 28, and brother Aidan had returned to the house, they were visited by police officers.
‘‘They said dad was dead and asked if I could go to the mortuary to confirm said.
Hallgarth had been in one of two vehicles that collided head-on along York Road, just outside Hastings, at 11am.
He had been returning home from work in his little Suzuki Swift when a car came speeding towards him in his own lane. It appears he swerved to the left to avoid a collision, before losing control and shooting back across the road, into the path of an oncoming Toyota Hilux.
Hawke’s Bay police are appealing for video from drivers and residents who may have filmed the other car, believed to have been a dark green Honda four-door sedan seen speeding in the area just before the crash.
Hallgarth had lived in the pink house at the end of a small cul-desac since 1989 - initially with his wife and kids, but alone for many years after he and his wife separated in the 1990s.
Hallgarth’s father was a commercial sprayer, so he was always near heavy machinery and grew to love it, Daniel said. it was him,’’ Daniel
Daniel said his dad was a hard person to describe. He worked a lot, but he liked hanging out with friends, too. He was partial to the odd pint and he liked Oasis ‘‘and other 90s music’’.
‘‘He was just a happy guy, a family man. He liked to have a joke, and he’d let you know his opinion, but he was quiet most of the time,’’ he said.
‘‘I still don’t really believe it’s happened, but that’s how it is now,’’ Daniel said.
He said the family was hoping police find the occupants of the other car.
‘‘We know nothing’s going to bring him back, but I think the people in that car need to come forward,’’ he said.
‘‘I think they were probably so high they don’t remember it happening, or they just don’t care. It’s one of the two, I think’’.
Senior Constable Tim Rowe said it appeared that the Honda had travelled along Flaxmere Ave towards York Rd immediately before the crash, and had turned left from York Road on to Maraekakaho Road, heading towards Hastings.
‘‘Police would also like to hear from any residents of Flaxmere Ave, York Rd or Maraekakaho Rd who may have CCTV cameras, which may have captured footage of this car,’’ he said.
Anyone with information should call Hastings police or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.