Police missed three chances to stop Bourke St killer James Gargasoulas, ex-cop says
A police officer who was a first responder on the day of the Bourke St massacre says police had several chances to stop ice-affected James Gargasoulas before he mowed down pedestrians in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.
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Victoria Police had three opportunities to stop fugitive James Gargasoulas in the early hours of the day that he launched his deadly Bourke St rampage, an officer on the ground claims.
Sergeant Frank Caridi was one of the first responders to Gargasoulas’s frenzied stabbing attack on brother Angelo — nine hours before the delusional ice user mowed down pedestrians in the CBD, injuring 27 and killing six.
The now-retired officer says he wants to expose the red tape he faced on the morning of January 20, 2017, as he attempted to convince the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) to respond to repeated requests to arrest Gargasoulas.
But he says the force is undermining the search for the truth, denying him legal funding unless he uses one of its preferred law firms to prepare him for next month’s inquest.
“I’m prepared to go to court and give evidence and it will not be flattering for the police,’’ Mr Caridi told the Herald Sun.
“Those deaths could have been prevented. There were three instances where Gargasoulas could have been stopped.’’
Detailing the opportunities he saw in the first few hours after Gargasoulas’s attack on his brother, before he led police on a marathon pursuit culminating in the massacre, Mr Caridi says:
THE CIRT could have blocked Gargasoulas, using an unmarked police van, while he sat in a parked car in Greeves St, St Kilda.
THE squad was urged to arrest him after his phone was traced to a McDonald’s restaurant in Elsternwick.
A THIRD chance came when he left his stolen car to speak to a transgender friend in the Gatwick Hotel in Fitzroy St, St Kilda.
He allegedly told the friend to watch the news that night because he would be on it and it was going to be “big’’.
It comes as documents obtained by the Herald Sun reveal how protocols prevented swift action to “block’’ and capture Gargasoulas while he was stationary in St Kilda, in the hours after he attempted to kill his brother at his mother’s Windsor flat.
A triangulation search of Gargasoulas’s mobile phone, initially rejected, pinpointed him at the corner of Greeves and Vale streets at 4.30am.
Gargasoulas was stationary and thought to be in possession of the machete he had attacked his brother with, which it will be asserted should have triggered the CIRT into action.
A plan was formulated to use an unmarked van to box in Gargasoulas, who had a history of fleeing from marked police cars, even driving on the wrong side of the road at high speed.
But the officer in charge at the CIRT is alleged to have said he would not deploy his unit unless Gargasoulas was identified as being armed.
He further argued the situation did not meet the criteria as the unit did not make “mobile intercepts’’ or become involved in pursuits, it is alleged.
“In the event James Gargasoulas attempted to escape after being blocked in, the size of the van would likely prevent this,” Mr Caridi has said in one statement to police.
“In the event a pursuit occurred, the risk to the public was extremely minimal, considering the time was 4.30am and the roads would be almost bare of traffic and pedestrians.
“However, if the plan was properly executed, it would have prevented a pursuit. Knowing James Gargasoulas, once his vehicle was disabled, he would have likely just given himself up.’’
In addition to the two other opportunities early in the day detailed by Mr Caridi, further chances to stop Gargasoulas emerged as a full-scale pursuit developed, but were opposed by senior officers. The CIRT was ultimately deployed much later, with an officer firing a shot in Bourke St that struck him to end the carnage.
Legal experts contacted by the Herald Sun say Mr Caridi’s concerns about his representation for next month’s inquest are valid.
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Victorian Bar president, Dr Matt Collins, QC, said it was a general rule in cases for solicitors to be independent of links to the employer, even in the absence of a conflict.
“Solicitors must avoid conflicts between duties owed to current and former clients,’’ he said.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has already sought to suppress a “critical incident review” of police conduct on the fateful day.
Coroner Jacqui Hawkins, however, rejected that attempt.