Man run down by his own car

The car involved in the fatal incident. Photo / Doug Sherring

A 54-year-old man is dead after being hit by his own car in Auckland early yesterday morning.

Kousan Sadykov, believed to be from Kazakhstan, was run down about 3am on Church St in Otahuhu by someone he knew. However, police say there was "nothing sinister" about the incident.

Initial reports said Sadykov was the victim of a hit and run, but police ruled that out later in the day.

Sadykov was hit by a silver Honda Civic hatchback outside the house of Hine Watson, who was awake to feed her 7-month-old baby. She was first on the scene.

"I heard a woman cry out 'help me, help me'.

"I thought 'oh, no, it's a bunch of hooligans', I thought 'not again'."

She ran out with a golf club and came upon the bloody scene.

"I saw a guy lying on the ground and a woman cradling him.

"She was just going, 'help me' - she said call 911.

"I thought a person had been stabbed the way she was holding him, lifting him up and cradling his upper half. I could see lacerations on his side and blood coming out.

"She said 'stay with me'."

The man was covered in a lot of blood. "He looked like he was dead already."

Watson called 111 and an ambulance arrived five minutes later.

The woman, Watson said, sat on the footpath rocking herself and crying - "I got her a towel because she was covered in blood".

She was taken away by police.

Manukau police Detective Senior Sergeant Albie Alexander would not say whether the woman was the driver, but said the driver had been the sole occupant and was known to the dead man.

Police "have established that the deceased was struck by a vehicle whilst he was on the roadway. There is no suggestion from the investigation that this is a homicide or a hit-and-run," said Alexander. But he did not offer an explanation as to how the man came to be hit.

Alexander said it was too early to say if charges were likely.

Although the car's driver door was heavily dented, police said that was old damage.

Sadykov lived in a one-bedroom sleepout in Mt Wellington. His landlord, Dr Sam Tangri, said he had been through a rough patch lately, losing his job as a security guard after a car crash a year ago.

Tangri said Sadykov was from Kazakhstan and had been seeing a woman regularly who drove his car most of the time.

Sadykov was a "very, very good man".

"He's a quiet man, keeps to himself, doesn't bother anyone."