Kaelip Apolonio: Dandenong man pleads guilty to dangerous driving

A Dandenong labourer who crashed his car drifting outside a Richmond girl’s school has copped a spray from a magistrate for his “erratic dangerous behaviour”.

A labourer that crashed his car drifting outside a Richmond girl’s school has copped a spray from a magistrate for his “erratic dangerous behaviour”.

Kaelip Gaspi Apolonio, from Dandenong, faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to dangerous driving, dangerous driving losing traction and failing to stop.

The court heard he was in a rush to get home on February 9, 2019, driving at a high speed through Richmond before crashing outside Melbourne Girls’ College about 5.10pm.

A police prosecutor said Apolonio was seen by multiple pedestrians driving his car “sideways” from Bridge Rd onto Yarra Blvd before crashing into a parked car causing “significant damage”.

“The accused drove off at a fast rate of speed along Yarra Blvd again losing control directly opposite Melbourne Girls’ College,” he said.

“Multiple witnesses heard a large screeching sound.”

Another driver was forced to “slam his breaks” and swerve hard to avoid a collision in the 40km per hour zone, while Apolonio showed “no apparent regard for the safety of members of the public”.

Just 10 minutes later he returned to the scene of the accident to collect the front bumper of his Holden Commodore, speeding away without making an effort to contact the owner of the vehicle.

Magistrate Tara Hartnett gave a stern warning to Apolonio, saying his “erratic dangerous behaviour” posed a serious risk to community safety.

“I’ve got to say if you had any previous history of this I’d be imposing a jail sentence,” she said.

“The whole circumstance is nasty. There were pedestrians nearby including school children.”

Apolonio was fined an aggregate amount of $1800 and disqualified from driving for nine months.