Abbotsbury fatal car crash: Man charged after high speed chase
Charges have been laid against a man chasing a stolen car through southwest Sydney which crashed into a power pole, killing two teenagers. Warning: Disturbing images
NSW
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Woken by the sound of car thieves revving the engine of a black Holden Commodore SS outside his home at 4am on Sunday, a 37-year-old man allegedly jumped into a vehicle and gave chase.
A short time later, the stolen car with three teenagers on board crashed into a pole at high speed, killing two.
Late on Sunday, the man was charged with a string of serious offences including dangerous driving causing death. He is alleged to have jumped into a Holden Arcadia and chased the Commodore after being woken at his Edmondson Park home.
Police were on Sunday night trying to determine whether he owned the stolen car he was allegedly pursuing or whether it belonged to someone he knew.
It will be alleged the man followed the Commodore to Bossley Park where it collided with a light pole about 4.20am at the intersection of Cowpasture Rd and The Horsley Drive.
Two males, aged 15 and 17, were thrown from the car at the roundabout. Paramedics rushed to the scene and attempted to help them but they died on the roadway.
The third male, aged 17, remained in hospital on Sunday night with non life-threatening injuries. Police were expected to question him when his condition improved.
The man police allege had pursued the teenagers was arrested after the crash and taken to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory testing.
He then spent hours with crash detectives at Fairfield Police Station before he was eventually charged with five offences — two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, two counts of negligent driving and one of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
The more serious charges can be punished by up to 10 years jail if proven in court.
The man was granted conditional bail by police to appear at Liverpool Local Court on November 25.
Upon being granted bail on Sunday he ran from the police station about 6.30pm, with his face covered with a jacket before he left in a waiting car.
Witnesses to the crash said it was raining at the time and the roads were wet.
Crash investigators on Sunday worked in the rain at the site, which was strewn with shredded wreckage in a 100m radius around the pole.
Fairfield Police Detective Inspector Ritchie Sim would not comment on what caused the car to leave the road.
“We’ll leave that to the crash investigators,’’ he said.
“It’s important we don’t speculate as to what happened.
“We’ve had a number of witnesses come forward and we hope more will contact us with dashcam footage.”
Inspector Sim said the crash was an important reminder to all drivers to slow down in wet conditions.
“Slow down in the rain. It’s important people drive safely and get home safely,” he said.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Joe Ibrahim said crews arrived to a shocking scene.
“The scale of this accident is absolutely horrendous,’’ he said. “It is probably one of the worst, in fact, it is one of the worst (they have encountered). A senseless and tragic loss of young life, which should never have occurred.”
Paramedics urged the public to be extra cautious behind the wheel in wet weather conditions.
Bossley Park resident Christine Willcocks, who lives in the closest house to the crash site, said she woke to a “lightning bolt” sound and thought it was a gunshot.
“It was a ‘kapow’ kind of noise. It sounded like a lightning bolt. Or a gunshot,’’ she said. “Then I heard a man yelling. They would’ve been flying down the street. I thought they might’ve been coming home from a Halloween party.
“The police were on the scene soon after, within minutes. It was frightening.”