Inside Western Bulldogs’ Lachie Hunter’s dramatic hours before alleged crash
Second-year Western Bulldogs player Bailey Smith has been slogged with a $1652 fine by police for picking up vice-captain Lachie Hunter and driving him to another teammate’s house after Hunter allegedly drunkenly crashed his car.
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Western Bulldogs’ Bailey Smith has been fined $1652 by police for breaching the Chief Health Officer’s stay at home rules.
Smith, 19, drove teammate Lachie Hunter from Middle Park to fellow player Billy Gowers’ house in South Yarra on Thursday — the same day Hunter crashed into four parked cars.
Hunter allegedly failed a breath test some time after crashing his vehicle.
He was also fined $1652 for breaching the stay at home rules.
Gowers escaped with a warning from police. All three players are being spoken to by the Bulldogs.
Hunter, 25, has not been charged by Victoria Police for drink-driving.
The club said yesterday its investigation would likely take several days to complete because of the complexities.
Western Bulldogs great Doug Hawkins said Hunter should retain the vice-captaincy and has called for his teammates to be spared the uncomfortable task of sanctioning him
The sister of AFL star Lachie Hunter has said the Western Bulldogs vice-captain is “doing all right” after allegedly crashing into several cars on Thursday night.
Lauren Hunter said the disgraced footy star had the support of their family as he faced charges over the incident.
Ms Hunter arrived at her brother’s Middle Park home around 10.30am today, staying just 30 minutes.
She said her 25-year-old brother will break his silence over the incident “when he’s ready”.
“I don’t have anything to say. Lachie, he’ll be all right,” Ms Hunter said as she left the house.
“He’ll be OK. He’d be doing better if he wasn’t being hounded by every media outlet in the world but he’ll be OK.
“He’ll make a statement when he’s ready.”
When asked if he had the support of his family, Ms Hunter replied, “yes, he does”.
It was revealed Hunter was struggling with the pressures of the coronavirus lockdown when he had a big bust-up with his fiancee — and later smashed his car into four parked vehicles.
The Dogs’ vice-captain is expected to be charged on summons with drink-driving. He was also fined $1652 for breaching the lockdown rules when police finally caught up with him on Thursday night.
Hunter, 25, and his childhood sweetheart Maddie Sullivan-Thorpe clashed on Thursday afternoon.
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Friends said the argument rocked the footy star and, stuck in isolation and “in a questionable headspace”, he needed an escape.
Hunter got only a short distance from his home when the crash carnage happened in nearby Wright St also in the inner suburb of Middle Park, just after 8.45pm on Thursday.
He then left the scene. Police tracked him to teammate Billy Gowers’ house later that night. Hunter’s licence was immediately suspended for a year after he failed a breath test.
Shortly before the crash, he posted a video to social media showing him on a Zoom group chat with friends.
It is understood he then decided to drive to Gowers’ house — a clear breach of social distancing rules.
Soon after starting his journey, he smashed into four parked cars.
He abandoned his Toyota SUV, which was found to contain his official club gear and a partly drunk bottle of rose.
Friends on Friday night said Hunter was considering fighting the drink-driving charge, believing there was no evidence to suggest he had been drinking before the crash.
They described how Hunter calmly approached multiple residents who owned the damaged vehicles and offered his licence details and exchanged phone numbers.
He then bumped into teammate Bailey Smith, who was visiting his girlfriend in the same street, they said.
In a bizarre coincidence, a car belonging to Smith’s girlfriend’s parents was one of the cars Hunter had crashed into.
HOW BULLDOGS ARE SET TO PUNISH HUNTER FOR INCIDENT
Hunter asked Smith to drop him off at Gowers’ South Yarra house because he believed the situation had been taken care of and the police were not coming, friends said.
Hunter then drank with Gowers at his house, thinking that wouldn’t be a problem, they claimed.
But witnesses at the scene said Hunter only stayed at the crash scene for about five minutes before taking off.
“He was clearly in shock. He knew police were on the way,” a neighbour said.
“He was very pale. He must have panicked and then left.”
When police turned up at the South Yarra address, Hunter returned an evidentiary breath test of 0.123 — more than twice the legal limit.
Police would not say what time on Thursday that was.
Hunter is facing a $100,000 repair bill after it emerged his insurance company was unlikely to cover the cost of damage to the vehicles.
After the eventful night, Hunter stayed at the home of one of his two sisters.
HOW BULLDOGS HAVE RESPONDED
The Western Bulldogs were on Friday night still trying to get to the bottom of what happened.
Sources said they were mindful Collingwood players Alan Didak and Heath Shaw made a fool out of president Eddie McGuire in 2008, because McGuire fronted the press with the wrong information. Collingwood later suspended Didak and Shaw for the remainder of that season, including finals, for lying about a drink-drive accident.
A Bulldogs statement on Friday night said the club was “continuing to investigate the incident concerning Lachie Hunter … and the involvement of two other players, Bailey Smith and Billy Gowers.
“The incident was discussed at the Bulldogs’ scheduled board meeting … and the club is taking the matter very seriously,” the statement said.
The AFL’s integrity unit is also investigating.
AFL CEO Gill McLachlan said Hunter had “made a significant mistake”.
“Drink driving is just unacceptable in any aspect,” he told 3AW.
“He is vice-captain of the club, he’s a leader and he’s clearly made a mistake here.”
When asked if he would be punished, Mr McLachlan said “people need to be accountable for their actions, there is no doubt about that”.
One of Hunter’s sisters, Jemma, said he had struggled to cope during the lockdown.
“I’m sure he is struggling as everyone is, so I can’t imagine how he was feeling,” she told Nine News. “You never want to see that happen to anyone you love.”
THE NIGHT A STAR SHATTERED THE SERENITY
The residents of Wright St were enjoying a quiet night in front of the TV when a big bang shattered the serenity.
Little did they know the car which smashed into four vehicles in their Middle Park street was being driven by an AFL star.
Western Bulldogs vice-captain Lachie Hunter emerged from the wreckage of a Toyota SUV at 8.45pm on Thursday.
Nearby were a damaged Mercedes, Range Rover and a pest control van.
Hunter said he exchanged details with local residents before leaving the scene.
Simon Dixon was watching TV when he heard the crash outside his home.
He rushed out to find his Exopest van and other cars severely damaged.
“It was an enormous bang,” he said.
“I just saw the carnage of the cars. They were all like dominoes.”
Mr Dixon’s wife called triple-0 as he and his neighbours rushed over to make sure Hunter was OK.
Hunter asked if police had been called and then left in another car before they arrived, Mr Dixon said.
“He was okay. He wasn’t injured,” he said.
“We were in shock.
“Police were looking for the driver when they came.”
Ben Deville said the crash sounded like loud fireworks.
He rushed from his girlfriend’s home, which was next to the crash site, to find Hunter and the carnage.
Mr Deville said he was a big footy fan and seeing Hunter was “pretty crazy”. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
He said it was a “really bad accident” but Hunter seemed calm.
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