Libby Ruge death: Arpan Sharma fronts court after fatal Wollongong crash
A man allegedly pulled the handbrake of his friend’s car “more than once” before the vehicle ploughed into a group of people on a night out, killing Libby Rouge, a court has heard.
Illawarra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Illawarra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An international student allegedly told police he caused a horrific crash that claimed the life of a beautiful Illawarra woman after pulling the handbrake while his mate was driving, sending the car careering 50 metres into a group of pedestrians, a court has heard.
Arpan Sharma, 21, was the front passenger in his friend’s Toyota Camry around 10.30pm on Saturday night, when police allege he pulled up the handbrake, causing the car to lose control and plough into 19-year-old Libby Ruge and three of her friends on Flinders Street in Wollongong.
Police allege he’d done the same thing just moments before the crash.
Ms Ruge died in hospital shortly after the crash, while her friends Tye West and Eva Deans were also hospitalised with serious injuries. Ms Ruge’s boyfriend Luke Day was unharmed in the carnage.
Sharma, who works as a cleaner, faced Wollongong Local court via audiovisual link from the cells at Wollongong Police Station on Monday, displaying a large lump on his forehead, which he suffered during the crash.
In documents tendered to the court, police allege the Indian student admitted pulling the handbrake, saying “I pulled up the handbrake and then this happened”.
Police allege after he pulled the brake, the vehicle slid for 30 metres before it was released. The vehicle allegedly travelled a further 20 metres before veering sharply and colliding with the group, “ejecting them forward” from the vehicle.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Dave Weaver strongly opposed bail, saying Sharma had pulled the handbrake up “more than once” that evening, after CCTV allegedly captured the wheels of the car lock up and fishtail along the road 200 metres before the crash site.
“It is the prosecution case that together Sharma (and the driver) were driving the vehicle, Sharma was effectively driving by pulling the handbrake,” he said.
“If he didn’t pull the handbrake, this would not have happened.”
However, Magistrate Roger Prowse disagreed, claiming the dangerous driving charges were tenuous and unlikely to result in conviction because he wasn’t behind the wheel.
“You’d have to have something more substantial to prove that Sharma was driving the vehicle,” he said.
“It’s a very weak case as it stands, the police would have to prove you were driving the vehicle or doing some joint criminal enterprise, both are tenuous propositions,” he said.
He granted Sharma bail, ordering he surrender his passport and not go within 1km of any international departure point. He also banned him from speaking to the driver and any witnesses.
Tributes are still flowing for Ms Ruge, who was an aspiring model working as a dental hygienist at South Coast Smiles. In a post online, her boss Dr Arun Thangavel remembered her as “sweet, loveable and ambitious”.
“You lightened our world and our practice in the short time you were with us, we are all so glad to have met you and worked with you,” he wrote.
Outside court, Tye West’s father Ron said he was still coming to terms with the crash that seriously injured Tye and his girlfriend.
“It’s surreal… it was only last week my other son crashed his motorbike,” he said.
The driver remains at Wollongong Hospital.
MORE NEWS
