Jason Metallinos: Drag-racing hoon jailed for graveyard crash
A Patterson Lakes speedster was racing a mate when he rear-ended another driver leaving a cemetery. Luckily neither ended up there permanently.
South East
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A reckless racer who hit an innocent motorist while speeding in an attempt to catch up with his tearaway mate has been jailed.
Jason Nicholas Metallinos rear-ended another car because he wasn’t paying attention after he failed to keep up with his hooning buddy.
The Patterson Lakes 42-year-old, who has a terrible driving history, also left the scene of another accident when he crashed into parked cars after momentarily falling asleep.
He pleaded guilty to a raft of driving charges at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
The court heard Metallinos and a mate were racing in Bangholme in November 2018 at speeds well over the 100km/h limit.
Way up ahead a car had legally pulled out of the Bunurong Memorial Park, and Metallinos’ mate managed to easily swerve his ride around it.
But Metallinos didn’t, careering into the back of the slower car and causing both vehicles to veer onto the nature strip and come to a grinding halt.
Police attended and a were told by passers-by they had seen Metallinos and the other driver racing.
His car’s speedo was broken in the crash, and stuck on 112km/h.
Metallinos told officers he had been speeding and racing the other car but simply “didn’t see” the driver pull out.
Luckily for Metallinos no one suffered any major injuries in the high-speed crash which totalled both cars.
And in October 2019 he was driving in Patterson Lakes when he veered off the road and into parked cars.
A homeowner who had heard the crash came out to see what had happened and found Metallinos in the driving seat rambling and appearing drug-affected.
Police were called but before they managed to get there Metallinos walked away, telling the witness he was going to go and get a drink from Coles.
Officers attended his house but he wasn’t there, and when they did arrest him later he refused to be interviewed.
Defence lawyer Kymberley Skillen said Metallinos was struggling to keep up with the other driver and was keen to make sure he didn’t lose sight of him as he didn’t know where he was going.
She said he had been self-medicating with ice and Xanax at the time of the second incident due to back pain from a motor accident, and had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
She said the dad of two teens hadn’t worked for 10 years, and had a long history of drug abuse starting with cannabis at the age of 12.
Magistrate Vicky Prapas said he himself admitted he posed a risk to other road users.
“You conceded you and your friend were involved in some sort of racing,” Ms Prapas said.
“You exposed people to significant harm with your driving, which I regard as poor.
“I need to send a message to you, people in your shoes, that the court will not tolerate dangerous driving and will protect the community from you.”
Metallinos was jailed for five months minus 61 days already served, fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for two years.
