A woman has told of how she tried to save a fatally wounded man’s life after he was hit by a four-wheel-drive in the backyard of a Coalfields home.
The 36-year-old died at the Cessnock property after the vehicle struck him, crashed into a shed and started a small fire about 11pm on Tuesday.
Hunter Valley police are now investigating what happened in the lead-up to the man’s death.
A 32-year-old man and 31-year-old woman spent yesterday being interviewed by investigators after they presented to Cessnock Police Station after the incident.
Police believe they knew the 36-year-old.
Hunter Valley police commander Superintendent Chad Gillies told Fairfax Media they were released without charge late on Tuesday afternoon, “pending further inquiries”. He said investigations were ongoing.
A nearby resident told Fairfax she performed CPR on the seriously injured man before paramedics arrived.
The nurse, who asked not to be named, said she had not long arrived home from work on Tuesday night when she heard a commotion coming from a nearby property – on the corner of Edith and Chidgey streets.
She said people were yelling and she “could hear a car revving, revving” before the sound of a crash echoed through the neighbourhood.
The nurse called triple zero and followed the sound of the injured man’s voice to the house after she saw a four-wheel-drive leave the property and allegedly speed down the street past her home.
She said she did not want to jeopardise her own safety and only entered the property when a police officer arrived a few minutes after the triple zero call.
“I could hear a man in pain, moaning,” she said.
“I walked to the front of the house. I could see the man was lying [in the yard] in pain.
“There was a fire outside the shed on the grass.”
She found the man seriously injured in the backyard and started performing CPR, which she did for about five minutes until paramedics arrived and took over treatment. But the man died at the scene.
“Five minutes seemed like five hours,” she said. “I did what I could.”
Police believe the 36-year-old and the man and woman that investigators interviewed were known to each other.
Officers seized the four-wheel-drive and were forensically examining it on Wednesday.
Investigators flew a drone over the property to examine the scene before they entered and spent several hours combing through the yard.
Police were also waiting for a post mortem to take place on the 36-year-old’s body.
Another nearby resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she heard “a big thud”.
“I heard the car crash into the shed,” she said.
“We don’t wish that upon anybody.”
Superintendent Gillies said the investigation was ongoing and urged anyone with information about the incident to contact police.
Information can be passed on anonymously at Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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