Brother of Steven Cranston, hit by vehicle in Raglan, questions circumstances of death

By Natalie Akoorie of RNZ

The pedestrian killed when he was struck by at least one car on Wednesday night has been described by his brother as a champion for farmers.

Steven Cranston, 43, died when he was hit while walking on Nau Mai Rd on the outskirts of Raglan, in Waikato.

Bradley Cranston told RNZ he was still trying to understand exactly what happened to his older brother, after getting the shocking news on his 41st birthday.

Steven, a farm manager at Eureka near Hamilton, was walking his dog through Raglan on Wednesday afternoon.

It was understood he walked across the Wainui Rd one-lane bridge in the middle of the road, holding up traffic on both sides.

A resident, who did not want to be named, said she understood a call was made to police at 4.30pm reporting a man and his dog in the middle of State Highway 23.

The woman said she was returning from Hamilton just before 5.30pm when she came across the man in the centre of the highway near Greenslade Rd.

She said she rang 111 immediately and reported the sighting as well as she had only seconds earlier passed two police patrol cars heading in the opposite direction.

“Cops were around. There’s no way they could not have passed him.”

She was later told a friend claimed they had flagged down one of the patrol cars to report concerns of a pedestrian on the road.

When the woman saw the pedestrian, she considered pulling over and asking him to get in the car, but she was alone.

Reports of a pedestrian walking in the middle of the road spread across the Raglan resident’s Facebook page prompting the woman to call 111 again at 6.40pm to voice concern police had not responded.

Police said in a statement on Thursday emergency services were called to the intersection of SH23 and Nau Mai Rd, east of Raglan shortly before 7pm, where they located a man deceased.

Steven’s dog Hanz survived.

Steven Cranston.

The woman said news of the collision was posted on Facebook and she rang 111 a third time.

“I told the operator this had happened because you guys didn’t get anyone here in time.”

She has lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Yesterday, police said they had launched an investigation into the fatality after they believed a man was struck by a vehicle while walking his dog.

“Work is now underway to understand what has occurred, as well as to formally identify the victim.

“A number of people are currently assisting with our inquiries; however, we would like to hear from anyone who might have witnessed this incident.”

Police asked for sightings of the man and his dog between 4.30pm and 7pm on Wednesday or dashcam footage from the incident and the time leading up to it.

“Particular vehicles of interest are a silver 2009 Ford Falcon saloon, registration FDF332, and a silver 2011 Mazda Axela saloon, registration PZD720.”

Bradley Cranston, of Whangārei, confirmed it was his brother who died and said details were sparse and he was confused about what happened.

Steven worked as a farm management consultant at AgFirst in Hamilton but left in 2016 to start his own business, Steven Cranston Consulting.

Bradley said his brother, who went to Kamo High School, had been managing a farm and became passionate about advocating for farmers.

“He liked fighting for farmers, trying to stand up for farmers, people he thought were being suppressed.

“There wasn’t a lot of people doing it and he copped quite a lot of flak for it. But I think it was a really important thing and he was actually doing some really good work there.”

He also had political aspirations; at one point he was a candidate for Democracy NZ in Waikato. He was also a member of Groundswell NZ.

Bradley described Steven as a social guy who had a good sense of humour and was into sports, playing rugby and later cycling and tennis.

“He’s just one of those people that likes to be out doing stuff. We used to go surfing quite a lot.”

Steven had just celebrated his 43rd birthday on August 28 and Bradley spoke to him that day.

“He said he was planning a trip up soon.”

Bradley said his brother had had a few setbacks this year, splitting up with his partner earlier on, but nothing he thought he could not handle.

“I think he was going through a few tough times. He’d had a few knocks, a few things not going his way but speaking to him, he seemed optimistic I thought.”

Bradley said he had questions about the circumstances in which his brother died.

“I can’t get my head around why he was walking where he was. Like why would you drive out to Raglan and then start walking back into town?”

Steven was also survived by his parents and Bradley said the family planned to bring his brother’s body home on Saturday for a funeral in Whangārei next week.

A police spokesperson said they received a number of reports from about 5pm of a man being seen walking with a dog on SH23.

“Police then received information the person had moved off the road, and a response was not prioritised due to there no longer being an immediate risk to safety.

“About 6.45pm further reports were received that he was again sighted on the road and then at 6.55pm police received a report that a crash had occurred.”

They said inquiries into the specific circumstances of the crash were ongoing, and police were still appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage.

• Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with police through the 105 service, quoting file number 240904/4878, or to ring Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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