CID officer wants closure in dad’s hit-and-run death

A local police officer is calling on the driver who knocked down his late father in a vehicular accident to let him know what happened, so that closure can be achieved in the matter.{{more}}

Denniston Peters was a victim of a hit-and-run vehicular accident in October 2010, which left one of his legs crushed.

Peters, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, often wandered from his home in Stubbs and went on walks to Calder. It was on one of these walks that the accident occurred. There were no witnesses and the driver of the vehicle never came forward.

Unfortunately, Peters’ family had to watch as the diabetic man slowly deteriorated before their eyes, until he passed away on June 3, 2012.

Gideon Nathan, son of Peters, and an officer attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), visited SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday, seeking closure.

“He was a giant and that injury just pulled him down to a point where he was just…slim,” Nathan said.

“When he died, the doctor’s report shows that he was going through complications as a result of the accident”.

Nathan, Peters’ last son among 14 children, explained that he was very angry after the accident, as he watched his father withering away. He stated that he found ways to lash out at whomever knocked down his father, by posting graphic pictures of Peters’ condition on Facebook.

“The family…we are trying to deal with it. I have been trying to deal with it since the initial stages when he got knocked down,” the CID officer said.

“It bothers me and affects me”.

Nathan stated that when he had visited his father after the accident, Peters held his hand and said from his sick bed “Son, they knock me down, but forgive them”.

Although it took a while to get to the point where he could do as his father requested, Nathan said that since his father’s death, he is on a path of healing.

Forgiving the unknown driver is a step in that direction, he said.

“All I want them to do, at least, if they can’t come to me in person, write a note. Let me know how the tragedy happened with my father,” the 30-year-old said.

“They don’t have to worry about me filing, because no amount of money…can replace my father. Money cannot replace the pain or the hurt”.

To drive his point home, Nathan declared that had money been able to bring his father back, he would have had the best lawyers, even if it cost him the clothes off his back.

The CID officer said while he dealt with cases like this on the job, he had never truly understood what persons went through, until he lost his father.

He also revealed that he had felt a sense of guilt because he was unable to protect his father, who had suffered at the hands of so many, because of his Alzheimer’s disease.

“Nobody is too big to say sorry. I should be able to forgive and I’m trying,” he said.

“I’m here because I still want to know. I want that person…at least write a note…. I don’t need a return address. Just send an anonymous letter and let the family know this is what happened.”

Peters was a pastor at the St Elizabeth Baptist Church in Belmont and his wife, Elizabeth Nathan was his sole caregiver until he passed away. (BK)