Police investigate fatal crash at Kulangoor on Sunshine Coast

A woman whose stolen car was involved in a fatal crash has sent a heartfelt message to the driver’s family.

A woman whose car was stolen and involved in a crash that killed a teen Tuesday morning has sent a heartfelt message to the young man’s family.

DeAnne Pokarier’s white Mitsubishi Outlander was stolen from her Nambour property and written off in the crash on Rutherford Rd, Kulangoor, about 4.30am.

Early police investigations showed the 18-year-old driver was behind the wheel of the white SUV when it veered off the road and collided with a tree.

Queensland Police Senior Constable Peter Cowan inspects the damage to the car involved in a fatal crash at Kulangoor.

A woman who heard the crash tried desperately to save the young man.

But all attempts were in vain and he died as a result of the crash.

“He had his arm hanging out of the car and he was slumped over the steering wheel,” the woman, who did not want to be identified, said.

“I checked for a pulse, it felt like there was a real faint pulse.

“I couldn’t get any of the doors open and I was checking for kids because there were toys and stuff coming out of the car.”

Images of the car show not much was left of the vehicle following the crash.

Its roof was entirely bent in, the windscreen shattered and doors entangled.

For car owner Ms Pokarier it wasn’t the loss of the car or financial hit that concerned the mother-of-four the most.

The SUV veered off the road and hit this tree.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything except for an 18-year-old boy has lost his life and his family have lost him and I didn’t really care about anything else,” she said.

“I was just devastated for the fact that a few days after Christmas a family is going to be grieving the loss of a young man who has obviously made some mistakes.”

Police said it was too early to say whether speed was a factor in the crash.

But forensic crash unit Senior Constable Peter Cowan said the scene would have been “quite traumatic” for first responders and witnesses and the death was a tragedy.

“It’s most certainly tragic any time of the year, particularly over the Christmas period,” he said.

“It’s meant to be a happy festive time and these situations on our roads certainly nullify that.”

Sen Constable Cowan said the teenager had been treated at Nambour Hospital for another incident when he released himself and allegedly stole the car.

“I believe probably after leaving the hospital he was looking for a means to get home or wherever he was wishing to go and that means to him was to steal the vehicle,” he alleged.

“The deceased driver was not known to the owners of the vehicle.”

Damage at the scene of the crash.

Ms Pokarier said it wasn’t until the news sunk in that she realised the financial strain imposed by the incident.

“I’m pretty devastated, we are about $4500 short on our loan on the car and our insurance only covers a certain per cent, so we are out of pocket $4500 and we have no car, no car seat and our little boy’s favourite Christmas present from Santa was in the back seat,” she said.

“The insurance company is also asking us to pay the excess because the person who crashed it died and they are not able to pay it.

“We have spent two years paying for this car and it was all down the drain because we have nothing but debt to show for it.”

The mother-of-four didn’t know her car was missing until police arrived at her doorstep about 6am on Tuesday.

“They asked if we knew where our car was to which I checked my driveway and said ‘no, my car has been stolen’ and he said the car had been involved in a fatal accident,” she said.

“The car was locked, I double checked the car was locked and the keys were normally at our front door, so they checked for signs of break in because he had to get the keys somehow.

“We suspect he has broken in through our back door and come into our house while we were all sleeping, and he has stolen our keys and our car and wrapped it around the tree and died.”

Anyone with dashcam footage from the area leading up to the crash is urged to contact police.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.