Police release CCTV of alleged hit-run car
POLICE have released CCTV footage of a vehicle involved in a hit-run which had left a teenage girl fighting for life.
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POLICE have released CCTV footage of a vehicle involved in a hit-run which had left a teenage girl fighting for life.
The 13-year-old was struck by a black or grey BMW while riding her bike at the corner of Sussex and Bells streets on Sunday at 8pm.
She was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police have released the video as they continue to search for the callous driver, saying they have no doubt the motorist knew they hit a teenage girl but drove off anyway.
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Police have revealed they are looking for a female who was seen getting out of the car that hit the 13-year-old cyclist.
Witnesses have told police that the driver or a passenger got out of the car and looked around the scene before getting back in and leaving.
Damian Nippard, who stopped to help the girl, said could not believe the “despicable” actions of the hit-run driver.
Mr Nippard said he held the girl’s hand and gave her first aid.
“I rolled her over and got her on her back, there was blood all over her face,” he said.
“It was her breathing and head that were the worst.
“We were talking to her by name and telling her to keep breathing and that there was help on the way.”
It appeared she had not been wearing a helmet and her head had been seriously injured, he said.
Witnesses at the scene were able to provide a partial numberplate of the offending car to police, Mr Nippard said.
“It’s a low act (to drive off) ... it’s really selfish,” he said.
Mr Nippard and wife Susan were driving past when they saw the girl sprawled on the ground.
He grabbed a first aid kit from the car and went to help while Mrs Nippard comforted the victim’s two friends, a girl and a boy.
“In my youth I was a St John’s Ambulance cadet ... some of that training stays with you,” Mr Nippard said.
“I’m pleased I stopped — I hope I made a difference and kept her comfortable.”
The girl’s crumpled blue bike lay on the footpath outside a BP service station last night as police scoured the scene for clues.
Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Doug Fryer said it was “only a matter of time” before police found the driver and urged them to come forward.
“There is no doubt that person who had the crash and hit that young girl is aware of it,” Mr Fryer said.
“What sort of person hits a young girl and then doesn’t render assistance?”
Police investigating the crash are also shocked that the driver left the scene.
Detective Inspector Stuart McGregor said no parent should be faced with the news their child had been left to die.
“Think about this poor girl and this poor girl’s family,” Detective Inspector Stuart McGregor told 3AW this morning.
“There is no one who should suffer this.
“There is no mother, or father, or grandparent who would ever want this to happen to their child.
“Let alone be left on the side of the road just to die by a person who leaves the scene and doesn’t even bother to help.”
Det Insp McGregor said it was extremely rare for someone to flee the scene of such a serious accident and it made him wonder about the driver’s motives.
“Everyone else is stopping, everyone else is helping her out but this person decided no — ‘I’m going to drive away and save myself instead of saving the girl’,” he said.
Mr Fryer said the situation would have left the family “devastated”.
“We want this young girl to pull through, we hope that happens, but she’s certainly fighting for life,” he said.
Police are canvassing the neighbourhood for witnesses and would be checking CCTV to work out the car’s movements, Mr Fryer said.
“I can guarantee you we’ll be looking at all those avenue of inquiries,” he said.
“We optimistic that we’ll figure out who (the driver) is.”
The BMW was described as a “smaller” model, either dark blue or black.
Mr Fryer said it would be extensively damaged — with noticeable impact on the windscreen, front left bumper and left mirror.
Channel 7 aired CCTV of a dark car in the area on Monday night, but the footage is yet to be verified by police.
It is understood the girl’s family are keeping a bedside vigil at the Royal Children’s Hospital where she remains in an induced coma with serious head injuries.
The hit-run comes after four people died in road crashes on Sunday.
The latest victim was a motorcyclist who died after falling from his motorbike in Towong.
The male rider, in his 30s, struck oncoming traffic when he lost control on a hairpin bend on the Murray Valley Highway on Sunday evening.
In a separate incident, a man died when his car collided with a ute in Newry about 1.40pm.
Earlier, a 60-year-old man died when he was thrown from his motorcycle after hitting a kangaroo on the Calder Highway at Taradale.
Another man was killed when the ute he was in rolled at Balmattum in northeast Victoria.
Police are appealing for anyone with information or who may have witnessed any of the crashes to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au
-With AAP