A Melbourne airport worker says his life has been ruined after an alleged gang of teenage carjackers slammed into his car at 180km/h in a crash which also killed a 15‑year‑old boy.
Tony, 23, had just dropped his girlfriend home in Caroline Springs in Melbourne’s west when an allegedly stolen Skoda raced up Derrimut Road in Hoppers Crossing as it allegedly chased a Toyota after a failed carjacking.
Police allege the teenagers rammed the Toyota before smashing into Tony’s Ford Falcon XR6 with such force the impact spun his car off the road, leaving him with whiplash, suspected broken ribs and a wrecked vehicle he can no longer drive.
The Skoda, allegedly carrying seven youths, then ploughed into a Ford Ranger before rolling into the front yard of a nearby home.
As the car flipped, one of the passengers in the Skoda, Robbie, 15, was hurled through the windscreen and left dying on the road.
Tony, dazed and injured, dragged himself from his mangled Ford and tried to reach the boy.
But before he could get close, he alleges the fleeing 17‑year‑old driver emerged from the crashed Skoda brandishing a sword.
‘A neighbour yelled out “Machete!”,’ Tony told the Daily Mail.
The devastating aftermath of a senseless crash in Hoppers Crossing that left one boy dead
Tony’s vehicle was destroyed in the crash
‘I was still walking towards him. I thought, “I’m not going to die today.” So I walked the other way. The driver hasn’t even looked backwards. He just ran.’
Police later recovered a sword near the scene of the crash last Thursday night.
Tony’s Ford, worth $7,500 and his only way to get to work, is now a write‑off. Without it he can’t reach Melbourne Airport, costing him his job as a casual cargo worker.
His devastated mother Anna said she had tried to insure the car earlier this year but was blocked by a bizarre ’embargo’ linked to bushfires in Geelong, despite the family living nowhere near the region.
‘They said the embargo was due to bushfires in Geelong,’ she said. ‘But we’re not near Geelong, and we’re insuring a car, not a house. They never called back when the embargo lifted.’
The family has now launched a GoFundMe campaign in the hope of getting Tony back on the road – and back to work.
‘We’re a one-income household,’ Anna said. ‘Tony is a very confident driver, he’s even raced on tracks. His skills probably saved him when the car landed.
‘But now he’s freaking out.’
Robbie, aged just 15, was tragically killed in the high-speed crash
Paramedics help one of the injured teens in the wrecked Skoda
Police allege the stolen Skoda was carrying seven teenagers when it crashed.
As Robbie lay dead at the scene, the alleged driver and his passengers scattered towards Werribee Pacific shopping centre.
Tony said the scene would haunt him forever.
‘(The alleged driver) ran straight past his dead mate without even looking back,’ he said.
Meanwhile, an outpouring of grief has swept through the local community following Robbie’s death.
The teen had recently posted tributes to a friend killed in eerily similar circumstances in Tarneit just months earlier.
Floral tributes have since appeared along the fence where the Skoda came to rest.
The alleged driver has now been charged with culpable driving causing death and other driving offences, and was remanded in custody.
Police remained at the scene on Friday morning. A tent to the right still contained the body of the dead child
The front passenger, a 16-year-old girl from the Wyndham area, sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital.
Another 16-year-old girl from the Wyndham area was arrested at the scene, interviewed and released pending further investigation.
A 14-year-old boy from the Wyndham area later presented to a nearby hospital where he was arrested.
He was interviewed by investigators and remanded on matters unrelated to the crash.
Police say they are still working to identify two other occupants of the Skoda who fled the scene.
Anyone with further information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
