Bourke St massacre: Former sergeant Frank Caridi launches legal action against Victoria Police
A former cop who tried to thwart the Bourke St massacre is suing Victoria Police in what looms as a high-stakes legal battle.
Police & Courts
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A former sergeant who attempted to thwart the Bourke St massacre by warning his bosses of the driver’s killer intentions says he has been targeted and vilified for not protecting the “brotherhood” of the police force.
Frank Caridi, who desperately tried to get specialist trained officers to arrest James Gargasoulas in the hours before the murderous rampage, has launched a high-stakes legal fight against Victoria Police.
Mr Caridi, who had been a serving officer for three decades when he quit in 2017, is suing his former employer for negligence claiming he continues to suffer nightmares, and post-traumatic stress disorder and will never work again as a result.
In a statement of claim lodged in the County Court this week, Mr Caridi said he has been unable to work since the January 2017 tragedy in which six people were killed and 27 were injured after Gargasoulas’ deliberately drove his car into the busy CBD mall.
Mr Caridi, 56, told the Herald Sun he believes lives would have been saved if his calls to arrest Gargasoulas – over the attempted stabbing murder of his brother the night before – had been acted on earlier.
Instead, he said he was given “ridiculous excuses’’ as to why the critical incident response team (CIRT) would not respond.
“I know the outcome would have been different and lives would have been saved had we acted earlier,’’ Mr Caridi said.
“As a part of the organisation I was relying on my teammates and the role of the police force is to protect the public.
“I’m still suffering as a result,” he said.
Mr Caridi said he was treated poorly by Victoria Police in the lead up to giving evidence to the Coronial Inquest into the Bourke St rampage because he had gone against ‘’the brotherhood’’.
Victoria Police refused to pay Mr Caridi’s legal bills after he refused to engage its preferred lawyers prior to the inquest.
“Because I wouldn’t play the game and protect the brotherhood I got vilified and targeted,” Mr Caridi said.
“That has been as traumatic as anything else,” he said.
Mr Caridi said Victoria Police’s tactic was to “deny, deny, deny’’.
“They just keep that up until you piss off or die,” he said.
Mr Caridi said he had been clinically diagnosed with PTSD and still suffered nightmares and has been unable to secure a job as a result.
“I keep waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep,” he said.
Court documents state Mr Caridi was aware that Gargasoulos was “erratic, psychotic and had the propensity to cause injury or death” if not immediately arrested.
“Despite providing comprehensive details to senior officers of CIRT in relation to the propensities of Gargasoulas and the need for a safe manner of apprehension … the assistance as needed was not provided,” the writ alleges.
Mr Caridi claims Victoria Police was negligent in failing to act upon and disregarding his warnings and he has suffered anxiety and depression as a consequence.
He is claiming compensation for damages and loss of future earnings.
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