A woman has been charged after a December incident where Napier police say a man was travelling on a mattress on top of a car before falling off and dying.
Tamatea man Reif Cotter, 33, was found with critical injuries on a Marewa street on the night of December 27.
He died at the scene.
In an update, Detective Sergeant Stacey Bailey-Tran said police had now arrested and charged a 23-year-old woman over the incident.
The woman was arrested in Hastings yesterday afternoon and charged with excess breath alcohol and reckless driving causing death.
“Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this incident,” Bailey-Train said.
In December, the detective sergeant said police determined the man “died from injuries sustained in the fall from the car, and he was not subsequently run over”.
“Police have the vehicle Reif fell from in our possession, and are not seeking any other vehicle,” she said at the time.
“Police extends our condolences to his family and loved ones during this distressing time, and we ask the public to consider Reif’s family when making any online comment or speculation.”
She said police “understood he was travelling on a mattress on top of a black station wagon, which travelled from the Marewa shops on Kennedy Rd, along Nuffield Ave, shortly before 9pm on December 27”.
