Man to face court after allegedly breaching Victorian border and causing crash on Northern Expressway

A Victorian man who allegedly crossed SA’s closed border in a stolen car and drove at extreme speed before crashing into another car has faced court. Watch the arrest video.

A man charged with causing a two-car head-on collision had earlier stolen the vehicle in Victoria and breached SA’s hard Covid-19 border, sparking a high-speed chase, police allege.

Sporting two black eyes, Michael Sanders appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday by video link from the City Watch House’s Covid isolation suite.

If convicted, he faces a maximum five-year sentence over the incident, which stopped traffic on the Northern Expressway and left another man in hospital.

Outside court, SA Police Superintendent Bob Gray, Officer in Charge of Traffic Services Branch, said the crash – one of several in a 24-hour span – was “preventable”.

“I can’t reinforce enough that every one of these incidents that’s occurred within the last 24 hours on our road is totally preventable,” he said.

“People have deliberately made bad decisions that have had tragic outcomes.

“We’re coming up to the festive season, nobody wants to look around the dinner table and have their loved ones not seated with them.”

Two car crash on Northern Expressway at Buchfelde.

Mr Sanders, 28, of Norlane – a northern suburb of Geelong – has yet to plead to one count of aggravated driving dangerously to escape a police pursuit.

He is further charged with driving or using a motor vehicle without consent, failing to stop and leaving an accident scene after causing harm.

Mr Sanders is also charged with failing to comply with SA’s Covid-19 directions, and with resisting police.

The charges arise from a crash on the Northern Expressway at Buchfelde, near Gawler, on Tuesday night.

However, police allege events leading up to that crash began at the Yamba border crossing at 5.30pm.

Police allege they deployed various resources along the Sturt Highway, including the PolAir helicopter, to try to stop an allegedly stolen Kia Carnval that crossed the border.

A Holden Astra involved in a crash on the Northern Expressway. Picture: Jason Katsaras

Ninety minutes later, that vehicle collided head-on with another on the Expressway, with one of the cars ending up on its side.

Police have alleged Mr Sanders was the driver of the car that crossed the border, and that he ran from the scene following the collision.

He was arrested by patrols a few streets away – the arrest was caught on camera.

An eyewitness said the cars crashed head-on.

“A guy’s ran into the front of this white Astra, the cars flipped, he’s hopped out, run towards my car and ran back towards his car and then hopped over the barrier and ran off,” he claimed.

The driver of the other car, a man, 26, was injured in the crash and flown to hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

The collision caused traffic to bank up and closed the expressway for northbound traffic for several hours.

On Wednesday, Mr Sanders appeared in court by video link.

He made no application for bail and was remanded in custody until February.

Anyone who witnessed the Kia Carnival travelling on the Sturt Highway or Northern Expressway or who has dashcam footage is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au.